There is an unimaginable sense of disbelief that can overcome you as you watch a person swimming begin to struggle in the water.
The uncertainty and confusion is overwhelming, as the serenity of a beautiful summer day is interrupted and you hope in your mind that what you are witnessing is not, in fact, a person drowning.
For swimmers and those at Quarry Lake last Thursday afternoon (July 20) and Sunday (July 24), their uncertainty turned to an urgent need to act when on two separate occasions someone in the man-made body of water began to go under.
Andreas Weinand, a German citizen living and working in Canmore, knew he needed to do something and do it fast, as a man 40 feet out in the lake had already begun to go under on Sunday afternoon.
“I was like, I’ve got to help this guy,” Weinand said on Monday (July 24). “I had to act; I dove into the water and swam as fast as I could.”
Another bystander at the Quarry that day was also on his way to help the stranger, sprinting barefoot toward the water from a nearby picnic table.
Calgary resident Guyot Bisson was catching up with friends and his wife and son that day and had just gotten out of the water when he noticed something wasn’t right.
“I turned and I could see (a man) struggling and I noticed his parents on the other side yelling for help,” Bisson said. “I saw him go under and it clicked, this guy is not swimming, he is struggling.”
As another person began to swim toward the drowning man, Bisson ran around the lake to get closer before he jumped in and grabbed the man from behind. He said they were just three to four metres from the edge of the lake.
“Before I could get him to shore, Andreas arrived to help,” he said. “Thankfully, I was struggling to keep my head above water and it was good to have him there.”
Stephen Sacha, who was at the Quarry with Weinand, watched it all happen. An engineer with lifeguard training in the past, he said the man in the water was clearly drowning.
“This was a drowning in progress that we were witnessing,” Sacha said. “These two men saved his life.”
The scene on Thursday at the Quarry was similar, but with a different and tragic outcome for the person who went under the water’s surface.
Canmore and Banff EMS, along with Canmore Fire-Rescue responded to the Quarry at 3:30 p.m. for a drowning in progress. Bystanders at the lake faced the same scenario as Weinand, Bisson and Sacha just two days later – a swimmer in distress.
According to RCMP, the swimmer that day was underwater for several minutes before those diving underwater were able to find him. Emergency responders performed CPR and awaited a STARS air ambulance. It was, however, too late for 28-year-old Kyu-Heon Sim, a landed immigrant in Canada from Korea.
The man had been swimming with a group of friends at the southern end of Quarry Lake. They had a small barbecue set up on one of the picnic tables. The Calgary Medical Examiners Office, along with Canmore RCMP, continues to investigate the incident, according to an RCMP press release.
In July 2015, a woman drowned in Quarry Lake. The 19-year-old was separated for 30 minutes from her visiting church group at the time, when rescuers were called to assist. A search of the lake resulted in her body being found later that day.
Sacha said not everyone at the Quarry on the weekend recognized signs of a person drowning and he wants to ensure the public is aware of those signs, as well as the danger of swimming in cold water.
Quarry Lake is not a natural lake, as it is a reclaimed open pit mine. The change of use was planned and, as a result, lake waters are fed by an underground spring and not far below the surface it is a lot colder than swimmers in lakes in other parts of the country are used to.
“It is a formidable foe,” Sacha said. “Water that is cold can grip you if you are unprepared. This is a public safety issue and people need to be aware of how cold that water is.”
Characteristics of a person who cannot swim include lack of swimming style, no advancement in the water, flailing hands or an uneven stroke and they are not parallel to the water.
For Weinand, the experience has convinced him to seek first aid training and take courses in what to do in similar situations. He responded to help when he saw someone in trouble, but wonders what would have happened if the other bystander wasn’t there to help.
Chad Guenter, a Canmore firefighter and Raven Rescue instructor in cold water rescues, said we know that most, if not all, water in the Bow Valley can be considered cold, even during summer months, and those swimming and recreating in the mountains need to exercise caution when planning a day on the water.
“When we think of being cold, we think of when the temps drop into the minuses, but cold water shock can happen in waters of 15 C and, of course, less,” Guenter said. “That seems like a decently warm day in spring or fall. But in Canada we have a lot of cold water, which can create a shock response for those taking unexpected swims.”
Cold water shock occurs within the first minute of going into the water, he said, and can result in increased blood pressure and pulse, muscle spasms or hyperventilation. Guenter said cardiac arrest can occur even in a healthy person.
The shock subsides and afterwards, he said, a person has 10 minutes of purposeful movements.
While temperature of the water is a factor, Guenter said there are others that come into play when a person drowns.
“Other factors involved in drowning are how long the victim has been in the water, the age of the victim and the water temp, as well as how quickly cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was started,” he said. “Not to mention how well the CPR is done. Water quality is also a factor, the cleaner the water the better. If it’s muddy, generally there’s a poorer result due to impurities that have gotten into their system.”
