Details of swim rescue at Sask Landing shared by rescuer

A vivid re-telling of how quickly a family trip to the beach almost turned tragic was discovered by members of the Swift Current Chapter of the Superannuated Teachers of Saskatchewan.

During their annual Retired Teachers breakfast at the start of the school year, members learned about the heroic effort and coaxed Marie Gottselig into sharing her story.

While initially not wanting to share the story, she has chosen to share her story in order to remind all parents how easy it can be to lose a child in open water without even noticing that anything is wrong.

Here is her story... I hadn’t taken my kids to the beach yet this summer so we had decided to go one afternoon after work. A friend who I went to high school with had come along with us.

It was a typical afternoon of building sand castles and playing in the water, but only up to our knees as it was really windy and freezing cold. There were two other families there, one family with who I knew and the other with a mom and her two girls. The girls had been swimming the whole time we had been there but the wind had picked up more then what it was already so they decided to come out.

A little while later I had seen one of the girls (maybe 13) start swimming out to the furthest buoy. It was crazy windy so I kept watching her just in case. The other gentleman on the beach kept looking at me making sure that I was seeing what he was seeing. About 15 minutes later, after her struggling to get to this buoy she had reached it and was hanging on tight.

We were both concerned so the gentleman decided to ask the girls mother if she was okay as the mom didn’t look in the least bit concerned. She had passed him off with a hand waving gesture saying that the little girl had already been out there once today. So he walked back, shrugging his shoulders in a concerned manner, and went on with his family. They had started to pack up and we were about to leave as well (the little girl is still hanging onto this buoy which had been about a half hour since she had been in the water).

I had seen her finally waving and heard a “help” so I wasn’t going to stand there and watch this any longer. I grabbed one of my son’s pool noodles and went for a swim. It was so cold and at this time I could see her going under the water every once and a while. I was for sure a football field away as it was the furthest buoy. Thank God I lane swim in the winters and am physically active or I wouldn’t have made it. My boys weren’t happy as I could hear them from the beach every once and a while yelling my name. I’m grateful for my friend who had stayed with them and kept them calm.

I was 10 feet away, and freezing. I watched her go under again and seen how blue her lips were. I finally got to her, which seemed like it took me forever. When I got there she was so froze and shaking. I had learned from an early age that when someone is cold and is shaking its a good thing still. She grabbed the pool noodle I had given her and began to swim her back into her mom. As I was swimming in she had told me that she had been screaming for help for a while. The wind was going the opposite direction so no one could hear a thing. She could see her mom as we were swimming in and was saying how mad she was going to be at her for not coming in right away. I told her once she gets onto that beach to run to her mother and give her a big squeeze and to tell her she loves her. I told her she is one lucky little girl.

I WAS SOOOO COLD, but I kept telling myself that I have to get back to my boys. I could finally see them again as we got closer to shore. Yes that’s how big the waves were!

We got back to shore and she ran one way towards her mom and I felt my boys run right into me and squeeze me tight. They were so warm.

They had come to thank, me, gave me hugs. I had let the little girl know to not go that far without a lifejacket any more because if I wasn’t there the reality of the situation wouldn’t have turned out well at all. She had made me look down at her leg as there was a huge gash on it. She had told me that it was from hanging so tight to the cable that the buoy was tied down to because she kept slipping off of the buoy.

The other family that had watched to make sure I was okay had told me that if I wouldn’t have got to her they would have only given her a couple more minutes and she would have been under the water and gone. The waves were to big and to strong for her to hold on anymore as she had kept slipping.

I am so grateful that I was able to help that little girl. I made sure that on our way home the boys understood what had happened and how wrong it was to go that far, even with a lifejacket. The wind had picked up so fast that the young girl didn’t have a choice but to swim to the buoy because it was to far to swim back to shore and she was out of energy.

Again, I’m writing this not to pat myself on the back but to help everyone who goes to beaches in the summer be aware of the dangers, even if they aren’t posted. Use every caution you can when it comes to water, it can be so unforgiving.

Thanks so much for letting me tell my story in hopes that I help all families out there be super safe out on our beautiful Saskatchewan lakes!

Marie Gottselig