Bystanders came to the rescue of a woman who ended up in the harbour in Cobourg, Ont., on Sunday afternoon.
Just before 4 p.m., Cobourg residents Shawn Torrison, his wife Hilary and their kids 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 cries for help from a woman.
“We just noticed a splash and looked and we saw her with her head out of the water,” said Torrison. “We weren’t sure if she needed help or not. After a minute or so in the water she started calling for help, so we ran other there and tried to help her out.”
Torrison said the woman attempted to climb a dock ladder but she was unable to get her leg up the first rung and appeared to be in “shock of some sort.”
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“We tried to help but it did take a while,” said Torrison.
“I think she was in the water for about 10 minutes before we were able to get her out.”
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At the same time, Mary Alice Legge and her brother Gordon were also going for a leisurely stroll near the shore of Lake Ontario and heard the cries for help. Legge said she grabbed a nearby life-ring and provided it to the trio who climbed down the ladder and managed to put the ring around the victim.
“There was no way she could pull herself up,” said Legge. “She had hypothermia.”
Torrison says it was a challenge to get the life-ring around the woman as she was wearing several layers of clothing. It was an even greater struggle to help pull her up the ladder and onto the dock, Torrison said.
“It was tough. I really wanted to go in the water to try to help her from the water,” he said. “But I knew I’d probably be right with her not being able to get out because the water is so cold.”
By the time rescue services arrived to the scene around 4 p.m., the woman had been removed from the water. She was rushed to Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg. Her condition is not yet known.
Torrison says it was a team effort to rescue the woman. Legge doesn’t think the woman would have gotten out of the water by herself.
“I’m glad there were enough people around to do something,” said Legge.
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