PG woman saves the night
Woman swam out to grounded boat, restarted and drove it to shore
Three people have a mystery woman from Prince George to thank for rescuing them following a late-night boating accident Monday on Okanagan Lake near Trout Creek.
What remained of the boat — a small bowrider with a 150-horsepower outboard and heavy damage to its hull — was resting Tuesday morning on the bottom of the canal behind Bob Wise’s home on Miller Street.
He was inside around 10:30 p.m. Monday when he heard the boat strike a rocky outcrop about 10 metres off shore.
“It sounded like a crash — actually it was more like a big explosion,” said Wise.
Moments later, a woman who had been walking her dog nearby and saw the accident started frantically pounding on his door and asking him to call 911.
The young woman returned to the water to find a female in the lake yelling for help and two men, both of whom were incapacitated by their injuries, still inside the crippled vessel, which was taking on water.
Acting on instructions from the injured men, the rescuer swam to the boat, restarted its motor and limped the vessel up the canal to Wise’s yard. She told Wise it was her first time driving a boat.
“She said, ‘It’s no different than a damn car. It’s got a steering wheel, so it’s got to go,’” he recalled.
Wise didn’t catch the name of the rescuer, who looked to be in her 20. She told him she had to return to Prince George on Tuesday for work.
Members of both the Penticton and Naramata fire departments were called to assist with the rescue, which ended with all three victims being taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Penticton deputy chief Chris Forster said an investigation determined the boat, which has markings indicating it’s registered in Washington State, hit the rocks at a high rate of speed, bringing the vessel to a dead stop and tossing the female passenger into the water.
“She ended up with the least (serious injuries) because she obviously hit water and rocks instead of being thrown right into a hard solid object” inside the boat, said Forster, noting one of the men suffered severe chest injuries when he was tossed into the vessel’s steering wheel.
All three boaters owe their lives to the mystery woman, according to Forster.
“It was a very significant incident, and it’s lucky she was there,” he said.
“If the boat had sank, we could have had a very dire outcome.”
Forster reminded boaters to stay off the water at night unless absolutely necessary, and to exercise extreme caution if they do have to go out after dark.