B.C. volunteer saves lives overseas in marine rescue operations

It’s been a life on the water for Amber Sheasgreen, starting at an young age.

“I grew up on a tiny island just off Prince Rupert,” Sheasgreen said, a Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) volunteer. “We had no roads, so we had to commute by boat every day. I took a ferry to school.”

She grew up hearing about rescue calls for help in the community.

“Even once, my mom had to be rescued. She spent a night on shore underneath a tree,” Sheasgreen told Global News.

Now she’s an RCMSAR crew leader, and Sheasgreen has dedicated her life to saving others.

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Her experience and skills have taken her on international operations, working with Italy’s SOS Mediterranee rescuing migrants in distress on the Mediterranean Sea.

“We did about four or five calls in this last rotation and rescued over two hundred people,” Sheasgreen said. “We rescued about seventy-five people from a broken down sailing vessel (in) two to three metre swells. (It was) really dangerous (and) super scary.”

The crew leader said her group responds to calls for assistance that comes from migrant vessels who are attempt to cross from North Libya and Tunisia to Italy.

Sheasgreen is teaching others here in B.C., and abroad, how to save lives on the water. She has valuable experience gained through her volunteer work and from difficult moments in her childhood.

“There were a lot of tragedies unfortunately when I was growing up as a kid.  Either friends or family or colleagues at the school,” said Sheasgreen. “It just really resonated with me to learn new skills and give back to my community. It’s rewarding. It’s always been rewarding to help people in need and make sure they’re going home to their families at the end of the day.”