Experience saves the day in near river drowning
A life was saved on Friday afternoon in Fort Erie due to one local man’s knowledge of the Niagara River.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m., 55-yearold Randy Mathewson was walking his 10-year-old golden retriever along the Niagara Parkway near the coal docks when he heard two women shouting that there was someone drowning in the fast-moving waters just past the International Train Bridge.
In the area, there is a spot on the shore that locals refer to as Willy’s Dock.
It was an important factor for Mathewson when quickly calculating his rescue strategy after he saw the man’s drifting pattern wouldn’t take him to the part of the shoreline he tried coaching him to, an inlet where the current headed to Niagara Falls is slower and the water is less deep.
Mathewson attributed swimming in the Niagara River his entire life as a key factor in his planning.
“I knew where he was going right after he missed it,” he said.
“It bends right there, too — and it will spit you right out,” he added.
Mathewson ran along the parkway, was given a life-preserver from a bystander, and was able to intercept the male in the river, wrap his arms around him and bring him back to safety.
Mathewson said the women who called for his help claim the man was standing on the river’s edge for about 10 minutes before he ended up in the water.
When Mathewson realized he would be able to reach him before conditions became too difficult to deal with, he gave it everything he had in the tank.
“I just swam — I swam my guts out,” he said about an hour after the rescue.
“I was his only lifeline and I got there in enough time to catch him.”
Mathewson also didn’t let the fact that he’s had two surgical procedures in less than a month — one for his carpal tunnel syndrome three weeks ago and a hernia operation one week ago.
“I’m really only supposed to be just walking the dog,” he said with a laugh.
Mathewson said he was going to unwind by having some dinner and spending time with his fiancée after Friday’s ordeal.
He said the man he rescued was tired and not very talkative but did thank him when they reached shore.
Fort Erie fire Chief Ed Melanson said the call came in over dispatch as a boat rescue and then was being discussed over the air as a medical call. By the time he arrived and shortly after a Fort Erie Fire Department rescue crew was on scene, the police said fire services were not needed.
Mathewson said the man he pulled from the water appeared to be in his mid- to late-50s.