Residents rushed to aid stricken victims of sinking
Marcel Martin, his father Carl and cousin Donald Williams Jr. were out halibut fishing when they heard of the disaster over marine radio.
Leviathan II, loaded with tourists and on its regular Sunday cruise of waters near Tofino, was sinking. They rushed to help.
When the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation fishermen arrived, a boat from the Ahousaht First Nation was already on the scene pulling survivors from the water. That boat kept being swept up so dangerously close to a reef that it had to reverse and in doing so inadvertently injured a survivor in its path, said Joe Martin, who recounted what his relatives Marcel, Carl and Donald encountered.
The three men grabbed onto a body “and while they were doing that another body popped up and surfaced in the water,” Martin said.
“They grabbed two and said they had a difficult time because the bodies were covered in diesel. There was three of them they brought in.”
“They were all dead,” Martin said. They were not wearing survival suits or life-jackets as they were not obliged to on a boat the size of the 65-foot Leviathan II, he added.
Joe Martin also described the scene at Tofino’s First Street dock, which was crammed with rescue vehicles and personnel. He saw a Zodiac from Jamie’s Whaling Station pull up.
“People hopped into that boat and appeared to do CPR on someone there ... then they stopped doing CPR and pulled the body out of the boat,” Martin said.
“And then there were other people apparently doing CPR on another person and they continued that for some time and then they also stopped on that one and then they covered the bodies up.”
Francis Campbell and his wife, Michelle, were among the first on the scene rescuing survivors, said Ahousaht First Nation Coun. Tom Campbell, who owns GI Charles water taxis and charter boats.
Francis Campbell was using his cousin Tom’s boat and carrying two passengers at the time when he responded to the emergency call.
“I did not think one second,” Campbell posted to his Facebook. “I said to my passengers: ‘We are going on a rescue.’ ”
Campbell and his wife plucked about eight survivors out of deep swells and into their boat.
“[One survivor] had a hard time talking to me, he just talked to me for a few minutes and he just dropped his head, still in disbelief,” Tom Campbell said.
Francis Campbell said he couldn’t sleep because of haunting memories from the rescue effort.
Michelle Campbell sought counselling Monday, unable to work at the Ahousaht band office.
Tom Campbell said the eyes of those returning to shore from the scene looked haunted and stunned.
He was on the water Monday with several other boats and RCMP divers in an attempt to find the one passenger who is still missing. Five people were killed and 21 were rescued.
“This is just our way of digging into the water for hours on end to find closure for the unfortunate people,” Campbell said. “It is very heart wrenching.”
Some First Nations people in the area conducted cleansing ceremonies Monday to share the pain of the experience before spiritually washing away the scarring memories.
Others met for a potluck in Tofino.
Mayor Josie Osborne said Monday that it’s important in a town as small and connected as Tofino, with a population of about 2,000, to share the experience — stories of sorrow and loss as well as heroism.
“The best of those stories is the way this community has been galvanized and come into action,” Osborne said. “The worst is, of course, the people who have perished. Our hearts go out.”
Joe Martin said the Ahousaht are often the first to respond in any local marine disaster and should be commended for their rescue efforts Sunday
“I have grown up here my whole life and those people are always like that,” Martin said.
Whale-watching boats and fishermen were also on the water helping the official emergency responders.
Ahousaht Chief Coun. Greg Louie said that among the First Nations rescuers “there’s so much sadness and heaviness.”
He sent condolences to all the families who lost loved ones, saying people did their best to save them. He said he is proud of the people of the Ahousaht First Nation, the largest of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations.
“It’s innate, inside us, that we got to do this, that we got to help,” Louie said. “For many generations the Ahousaht have been like this.”
Louie didn’t shy away from a political observation.
“I certainly hope this awakens in the eyes of politicians the continued need for coast guard services,” Louie said.