Brockville: Pair jumps in to save man after motorized scooter falls into water

Author of the article:

Ronald Zajac  •  Brockville Recorder and Times

The quick action of two men helped avert tragedy after an elderly man on a motorized scooter fell into the water off Brockville’s Blockhouse Island Saturday, police said.

A boater from Quebec and a dive instructor from Ottawa went into the water to help the man after he fell in shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday.

“They just didn’t hesitate,” said Brockville Police Sgt. Mike Grant, adding the elderly victim escaped uninjured.

City police were called to the walkway on the southern side of the harbour entrance, at the western end of Blockhouse Island, just before 3 p.m. after the man on the mobility device fell in.

“It looks like he just caught a wheel, perhaps, is my theory, and it just pulled him into the water,” said Grant.

The sergeant noted that, while the man’s motorized wheelchair was equipped with a seatbelt, the man did not have it on – a decision that likely saved his life.

The chair, noted Grant, was very heavy and sank quickly; a clipped belt “probably would have held him in the water.”
The upper part of the man’s chair, a seat with a foam back, detached from the rest and helped him stay afloat, added Grant.

Police did not identify the man, but said he is a resident of Brockville’s Wedgewood Retirement Residence.

Richard Massicotte, of Chambly, QC, was on his boat docked at the Tall Ships Landing marina.

“I heard a big splash and I got up,” he said.

He saw a man had fallen into the water and people looked at him from above, not sure what to do. One of the bystanders had apparently thrown the man a life ring with a rope.

Massicotte, 62, stripped down to his underwear and went into water, crossing the harbour to help the man.

“The water was not too cold.”

Massicotte said he stayed with the man in the water to comfort him, but the mooring wall on the south side of the harbour has no ladder or other means of getting out. He said another man joined him and together they swam across the harbour to the Tall Ships Landing side.
That other man was Hubert Chrétien, 57, of Ottawa, who runs a charitable organization called Freedom at Depth, which provides open water dive training to people with disabilities and regularly does courses in Brockville.

Chrétien had just docked a boat at Tall Ships Landing when he noticed the commotion and realized a man was in the water. He jumped in to join the other man in rescuing him.

Both men said the victim was calm and talkative throughout the ordeal.

“He said he used to be a good swimmer,” added Chrétien.

Police and firefighters were waiting at the Tall Ships Landing marina by the time they reached the other side, which is equipped with ladders, he added.

Chrétien fully concurred with the sergeant on the matter of the seatbelt, adding he tells his wheelchair-bound clients not to wear it when near water.

Chrétien praised the staff at Tall Ships Landing for their assistance in the incident, and criticized the city for having no obvious means of egress from the water on the south side of the harbour.

He planned to return to the harbour on Monday with a lift bag to try to get the motorized scooter out of the water, though he is not sure if the vehicle will be repairable.

Grant said police and the two Good Samaritans found a chair for the victim once out of the water. Paramedics assessed the man, who agreed to be taken to Brockville General Hospital as a precaution.

“He was very communicative. He was in good spirits, considering the event,” said Grant.

Grant would not comment on the need for ladders on the south harbour wall, adding the spot is used for docking boats.

He called the two men “heroes” and said their quick action prevented tragedy.

Chrétien, meanwhile, added: “The person who saved his life was the person who sent him a life ring.”

Rzajac@postmedia.com

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