Bystanders came to the rescue of a woman who ended up in the port of Cobourg, Ontario, on Sunday afternoon.
Just before 4 p.m., Cobourg residents Shawn Torrison, his wife Hilary and their children, and Hilary’s sister, Laura Blake of Mississauga, were walking along the boardwalk near the Cobourg Yacht Club when they suddenly heard a splash and suddenly screamed asking for help from a woman.
“We just noticed a splash and looked and saw her head out of the water,” Torrison said. “We weren’t sure if she needed help or not. After a minute or so in the water, she started asking for help, so we ran to others there and tried to help her. “
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Torrison said the woman tried to climb a dock ladder, but was unable to get her leg up the first rung and appeared to be in “some kind of shock.”
“We tried to help, but it took a while,” Torrison said.
“I think it was in the water for about 10 minutes before we could get it out.”
At the same time, Mary Alice Legge and her brother Gordon were also going for a leisurely walk near the shore of Lake Ontario and heard the cries for help. Legge said he grabbed a nearby life ring and provided it to the trio who came down the ladder and managed to put the ring around the victim.
“There was no way he could get up,” Legge said. “He was hypothermic.”
Torrison says it was challenging to put the life ring around the woman, as she was wearing multiple layers of clothing. It was an even bigger struggle helping her up the ladder and onto the dock, Torrison said.
“It was difficult. I really wanted to get in the water to try to help her out of the water,” he said. “But I knew I would probably be right that she couldn’t get out because the water is so cold.”
By the time rescue services arrived at the scene around 4 pm, the woman had been pulled out of the water. She was rushed to Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg. Its status is not yet known.
Torrison says it was a team effort to rescue the woman. Legge doesn’t think the woman came out of the water alone.
“I’m glad there were enough people to do something,” Legge said.
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