Brian Boyd responds for calls for help from nearby marina
LITTLE CURRENT—It was looking to be a late night of moving for Brian Boyd and his wife Rikki as sometime around 9:30 pm or 10 pm, they were unloading a U-Haul trailer into the condo they had just rented near Low Island in Little Current. Young adults were enjoying the mid-fall weather down at the skate park and the sounds of their laughter filled the night, but something else was on the wind.
“I heard some yelling, but I chalked it up to kids down at the skate park,” recalled Mr. Boyd. But something in the tone of the voice he was hearing seemed off. His wife also heard the calls, so Mr. Boyd decided to listen a little closer—they soon realized someone down at Spider Bay Marina was calling for help. “You better go check,” said his wife, “I’ll clear up here.”
As Mr. Boyd got closer to the docks, it became clear someone had fallen into the water and was unable to get out. “I asked him what pier he was on, and I knew right away where he was,” said Mr. Boyd, who explained that he had once worked as a summer student at Spider Bay, so he was very familiar with the layout. As he got closer, Mr. Boyd realized that the man had somehow become trapped under the pier.
“It seems the man was staying on his son’s boat and he is very elderly and not very mobile,” said Mr. Boyd. “He had walked down the ramp using his walker and it slipped, tipping him into the water. I don’t know how he managed to get caught under the dock, but he had apparently been there for quite a while by the time I got to him. He called out ‘I can’t swim’.” Aside from a risk of drowning, as the pier was floating in about 12 feet of water, there was clearly a danger of hypothermia setting in—adding another layer of urgency to the proceedings.
Ms. Boyd had by now called 911 and a couple of the young adults who had been at the skate park also came over. “I was leaning over the side of the pier, my arms and shoulders in the water,” recalled Mr. Boyd. “I told him I was sorry, but I was going to have to put him under the water again. He was stuck between the two pontoons that float the pier.” Mr. Boyd said that he believed one of the young adults may have also called 911.
With the help of the two young men from the skate park they were able to pull the man up over the dock to safety. “He told me he had been under the dock for quite some time, and by now he didn’t think anyone was going to come for him,” said Mr. Boyd.
As special constables with the OPP, Mr. and Ms. Boyd have received a significant amount of training in first aid, CPR and a host of other things. “Basically, we get the same training as a regular constable, just over a longer period of time,” explained Mr. Boyd.
Although the elderly man did not appear to be too much worse for wear, the couple decided an ambulance was to be on the safe side. Mr. Boyd fished the man’s walker out of the water for him and the ambulance took the man away.
Mr. Boyd is the son of retired OPP Constable Al Boyd. Both Mr. Boyd and his wife worked in the emergency dispatch centre for about 15 years before taking on the special constable roles. They had just finally found a place of their own to rent when all of the excitement unfolded.
The couple has been nominated for an OPP live-saving award for their quick thinking and response.
