At approximately 10:25 on Saturday morning (20Sept2014) emergency services responded to a call of a female party in the water along the harbour wall close to the 10th Street Bridge in Owen Sound.
Investigation revealed that this 36 year old Owen Sound resident was depressed, wishing to end her life she walked off the edge of the east harbour wall. Fortunately, three men from Goderich, Ontario, fishing along the west harbour wall quickly went into action. The men ran to the east side of the harbour and after scaling down the harbour wall ladder were able to reach out for this female. By this time the female was going under and was taking on water. The one male half submerged in the cold water himself fought to hold onto the female all the time trying to keep her head above the water. Starting to lose his grip the other two males quickly climbed down to assist in the rescue.
“There is no question the actions of these three gentlemen saved the life of this distraught femaleâ€, Sgt Baker comments.
These men were able to keep this female afloat until emergency crews arrived on scene and took over the rescue procedures. The height of the harbour wall made the situation more difficult. The Owen Sound Fire Department launched their boat which was then utilized with the help of divers from the fire department to retrieve the party safely from the water. Once back on land EMS (Emergency Medical Service) personnel rushed this female to hospital where it is believed that she will make a full recovery.
Unfortunately, the two of the three fishermen, who under took the initial rescue procedures had to be transported to hospital by EMS themselves after the incident was over. These two men were treated for minor injuries and later released from the hospital.
Owen Sound Emergency Services would like to thank the three men who sprang into action to save this females life, Robert Arnburg age 44, Ronald Carrick age 48 and Travis Carrick age 24 all of Goderich.