This Is A Sad Story

Girl dies in boating rescue attempt that went wrong

Canwest News Service Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2008

CALGARY -- Provincial officials will review their procedures following the death of a five-year-old Calgary-area girl during a rescue attempt following a weekend boating accident near Brooks, Alta.

The girl, whose name hasn't been released, died after a Fish and Wildlife boat dispatched to rescue her family on Lake Newell capsized in rough water.

The weekend's events began at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, when the girl, her parents and two older sisters were in a boat that ran into rocks on Lake Newell, 15 kilometres south of Brooks, which is about 100 kilometres southeast of Calgary.

Someone aboard called 9-1-1, prompting Alberta Fish and Wildlife searchers to attempt a rescue.

They found the family but couldn't free their boat.

The team loaded the family onto the Fish and Wildlife vessel and the group of eight was motoring toward shore when a wave swamped the craft and capsized it.

One of the rescuers, Jamie Brown, was thrown clear of the boat.

Another search began with volunteer firefighters aboard another boat and aerial support from STARS air ambulance and the Calgary police helicopter.

Searchers found the overturned Fish and Wildlife boat at about midnight, and were able to rescue the two adults and older girls, along with Brown, who was found nearby.

But the five-year-old-girl was nowhere in sight. Rescuers found her the next morning, underneath the overturned boat.

Despite airlifting her to Foothills hospital in Calgary, she didn't survive.

Authorities said everyone was wearing life-jackets but the survivors were suffering from hypothermia.

The family was released from hospital, while Brown remained in Brooks hospital yesterday as a precaution.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008