Do you know identity of three who saved students at lake?

Teenagers from Japan ‘lucky to be alive’

The B.C. and Yukon Lifesaving Society is hoping someone can identify three Good Samaritans who rescued two Japanese foreign exchange students who were swimming at Thetis Lake on June 27.

The society would like to honour them at a ceremony at the Hotel Vancouver in March.

The students were rescued by two girls on paddleboards and a man in a fishing float tube.

The international students were swimming at the sunny-side cliffs, not at the main beach, when they got into trouble, View Royal Fire Chief Paul Hurst told the Times Colonist at the time.

“The teenagers are lucky to be alive because their rescuers realized they were in distress, grabbed them and pulled them out of the water onto the paddleboards,” Hurst said.

“This was an extremely close call for the one young male. It’s my understanding that if the rescuers hadn’t pulled him out of the water … he was literally one breath from drowning and being on the bottom,” Hurst said.

The rescuers brought the teens to shore at the base of the cliffs and called 911.

Firefighters and paramedics went out in their boat and brought them back to the main beach.

One student was unharmed, but the second student was in significant medical distress when emergency responders arrived, Hurst said.

Anyone who knows the identity of the rescuers is asked to call 250-380-5272 or email localnews@timescolonist.com. Please write “Thetis Lake rescue” in the subject line.