Passerby saves an 8-year-old boy
Published: May 29, 2007
Kim Imrie was enjoying a sunny afternoon of inline skating along a popular trail in Quesnel last week when she heard screams that shattered the quiet of the day.
Suddenly, she was confronted with two small, hysterical boys who told her that their eight-year-old brother had crashed his bike and fallen into the swollen Quesnel River at the Johnston Bridge Loop near the centre of town.
The 27-year-old teacher had moved to town just nine months earlier from Richmond and was still getting to know its beautiful surroundings, which are what brought her to the Riverfront Trail Park with her Australian shepherd dog Brody last Wednesday.
The boy fell in the Quesnel near the point where it meets the Fraser River, 660 kilometres north of Vancouver. Both rivers are currently flowing higher and faster than normal due to the record snow melting from the region’s mountains.
Ms. Imrie tied her dog to a park sign and raced with the boys to the river’s edge, where their mother stood.
“When we got to the river a woman was standing in the water but she said she couldn’t swim. At that point I didn’t know who she was but now I understand that it was his mom. She was pretty scared,” Ms. Imrie said.
The teacher could see the boy, who was afloat thanks to a red and white Styrofoam bike helmet, and made an instant decision to help him.
“It was pretty horrific. I saw his helmet bobbing in the water. I took off my rollerblades and then in I went,” she recalled. “I don’t know if I hesitated. I don’t think so.”
Ms. Imrie, who teaches Grade 4/5 at École Baker Elementary School in Quesnel, described herself as someone “who doesn’t swim a lot.” She said she earned her bronze medallion 11 years ago, but when the pressure hit she remembered what she had learned.
“I think at that point my training must have kicked in and I grabbed him in a way that I remember from my swimming lessons,” she said. “The river was freezing. I honestly don’t know how close we were to the Fraser, but I remember thinking that I didn’t want him to be carried out to where they meet because I didn’t think he’d have much of a chance. That is kind of horrible to think about.”
By the time Ms. Imrie jumped in the river, park supervisor Alec Darragh had arrived on the scene after hearing shouts from his office.
“When I first saw him, it was only his helmet that could be seen. Kim was about 10 feet behind him. I ran down the river to be where I could be of some assistance. By the time I got there, Kim had caught up to the boy, grabbed him and brought him to shore,” he said.
Mr. Darragh added that he waded out to lift the boy from the river as Ms. Imrie reached the riverbank.
“There were lots of people by that time and we got him up to the bank and got Kim out of the water,” he said.
Ms. Imrie said the boy, having been underwater for several minutes, was unresponsive when she reached him. Karen Grounds, who had been walking with the boy’s family before the accident, started artificial resuscitation, then Quesnel Public Works first-aid attendant Doug Chute took over.
“He was blue and not breathing and everyone was frozen to the spot so I stepped forward,” said Ms. Grounds. “I gave him three good breaths and could hear his chest gurgling. He came back in the second round. I was so thankful.”
Ms. Grounds said she and the boy’s mother had been walking and the children had gone on ahead on their bicycles. The children had been waiting for them and were practising jumps.
The eight-year-old had cleared 1.5 metres of built-up rock that had separated him and the river.
“I was pretty excited when I heard the boy crying and that he had life back in him. It’s pretty scary, I felt every emotion you can have,” Mr. Darragh said.
The emergency services took the boy to G. R. Baker Hospital, where he was held overnight for observation and sent home on Thursday morning. The RCMP has not released his name.
Ms. Grounds said he was now fully recovered.
“The little guy is just fine, but on the third day it hit me and his mother and now we’re a bit more hypersensitive about our children than we were. [Ms. Imrie] is some kind of guardian angel.”
Ms. Imrie believes that from start to finish the entire rescue took less than 10 minutes.
“I kind of stood there and made sure that someone else had him and was helping him. And then I pulled myself together and went back to get my dog,” she said.
Mr. Darragh believes that the boy was 15 seconds from being completely lost.
“Had Kim waited another 10-15 seconds there would have been no hope. They were close to where the river joins the Fraser, so it would have been past the point where he would have stayed on the side of the river [where he was rescued],” he said. “The river has claimed other lives and not too far from where she jumped in, so this is definitely a happy ending.”
Mr. Darragh said that Ms. Imrie has become the talk of the town.
“Kim is a pretty amazing person. I talked to a few people. A lot said they didn’t know if they’d be able to do what she did,” he said.
Ms. Imrie said it never hit her until the next day that she herself might have been in danger.
“I’ve heard people say I was a hero. It sounds odd. I was able to help so I did. I’m just really, really happy he’s okay,” she said.
RCMP Corporal Brad Reed said his “stomach just twisted” when the call came in that a child had fallen in the river. He agrees that had the boy been swept into the Fraser River “rescue would have been impossible.”
“We’re in a critical situation with the rivers, like so many others in the region they are well above normal capacities and we’re expecting some flooding shortly. Ms. Imrie’s actions absolutely saved this boy’s life,” he said.
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