Members of West Vancouver’s Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue unit 1 say it was a “miracle” that a woman survived five hours in the water before being rescued Monday night.
Crews from the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station, BC Ferries, a Royal Canadian Airforce Cormorant helicopter and the Coast Guard hovercraft from Lulu Island were called to the waters off Cape Roger Curtis on the southern tip of Bowen Island just before 6 p.m. when there was a report of a woman overboard from BC Ferries’ Queen of Cowichan.
“The search commenced very quickly after that. We were on the water seven minutes later. It was a mayday call of course,” said Jane Maisonville-Phillips, RCMSAR 1 spokeswoman.
For hours, rescue crews conducted an “expanding square search” of the area in calm but cold conditions.
“The seas were calm and the moon was bright. It was a very good night for searching,” Maisonville-Phillips said.
At 10:40 p.m. believing there was little chance of successfully saving the woman even if she was found, the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria stood down the search vessels, Maisonville-Phillips said. The West Vancouver volunteers were tasked with collecting the buoys and life rings deployed on the water as part of the search effort. When they went to collect one of their life rings, they were stunned to find the woman clinging to it.
“She was sitting there with her arms crossed and waving at us. It was quite shocking because we had our brains turned off from search mode,” said Robert Alexander, search technician.
Alexander and a crewmate lifted the woman out of the water, wrapped her in thermal blankets and recalled the hovercraft, which has a makeshift hospital bed onboard and paramedic member of the crew.
The water was only about 11 C at the time. Hypothermia would set in very quickly at that temperature.
“Honestly, I think it’s a miracle. Five hours in the water. Most people would not have survived that,” Alexander said. “Even our most seasoned team member… was absolutely gob smacked that she was still alive.”
Maisonville-Phillips agreed.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s unprecedented. We couldn’t believe a person could be in that water for that period of time and still be conscious,” she said. “Which, statistically, is very shocking.”
Alexander said he believes the woman saved herself by keeping her legs tucked underneath her and keeping her shoulders out of the water. That’s good advice for anyone who finds themselves overboard.
“If you’re on the water, you have to remember that people are going to be out there looking for you. Make yourself as visible as possible,” he said. “Find a safe place. Try and find something to hang onto and try to maintain your body heat and wait for us to come and do our jobs.”
