A Boundary Bay woman is praising the efforts of firefighters both in Delta and Point Roberts, following a harrowing ordeal as she helped rescue a young man in distress last week.
As the Optimist reported in an online story on March 2, an unidentified woman helped with the rescue in the waters of Boundary Bay on Monday, Feb. 28.
Jennifer Young contacted the Optimist a few days after the rescue, saying although the Coast Guard finally arrived after Young and the 22-year-old man made it to shore, the real heroes are Delta firefighters.
“They went outside of their jurisdiction and borrowed a kayak to come and help me and the victim get to shore. To you I owe you my gratitude, and the victim owes you his life. You are my hero,” Young said. “I never spoke with the crew from the Coast Guard, nor did they ask me any questions. It was the amazing Point Roberts Fire and Delta Police who gave me a warm blanket and a warm car to sit in and took my name. It was the Point Roberts Fire and police who took charge and organized the chaos, of a multi-jurisdiction effort.”
Young said she is coming forward with her story and account of the rescue to not only provide proper praise and recognition to those who actually helped in the rescue, but to lobby the City of Delta for more resources in Boundary Bay should incidents like this occur again.
“Boundary Bay with all of her beauty and wonder, can also throw boats around like toys. We have little resources of rescue, and with summer approaching and the great number of visitors to our shore, we have a potential problem waiting to happen,” she said. “I was left in the water for over 90 minutes, with the victim, south of the mile marker, who had been out for more than two hours prior to my arrival. I know for a fact that at 5:45 p.m. emergency services were called. I know for a fact that the victim and I arrived at shore sometime around 7:30 to 7:45 p.m.
“There is no possible way that the hovercraft would have ever have found us. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Delta fireman on the borrowed kayak hearing my calls, I believe we would have had a different outcome. Without his flashlight and radio, the hovercraft was headed in the wrong direction.”
Young feels that a small pontoon or watercraft with agility and speed, located anywhere from Point Roberts to White Rock, makes a whole lot of sense.
“South Delta is surrounded by water, and as fortunate as that makes us, it also makes us very vulnerable,” she said. “One massive, expensive, loud hovercraft in the wrong place at the wrong time, just can’t do the job.”
