She stayed calm, survived: Woman saved after 4 hours in icy lake

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This article was published 13/12/2011 (5209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HER boyfriend drowned in the crash, but a woman survived four hours in the frigid waters of Lake Winnipegosis by staying calm and staying put.

That’s the feeling of a Dauphin resident who spoke to the Free Press Monday about a snowmobile crash near Winnipegosis that claimed her brother’s life.

It was family who rescued Sandra Flatfoot, 38, after she and Monte Menard hit a crack in the ice coming off Lake Winnipegosis as darkness fell Saturday around 5 p.m., said Julie Fleming, Menard’s sister.

Menard’s father and brother-in-law went out alone Saturday night, finding the woman in the water, then returning Sunday with two other fishermen to recover the 48-year-old man’s body.

“… They went out to rescue Sandra. They knew where to go. My husband knew exactly where they were,” Fleming said. The couple had gone out to check the family’s commercial fishing nets.

Despite the darkness at 7 p.m., the two men traced the couple’s trail and headed out on the frozen lake, hugging the shoreline. About two-and-a-half hours later, the experienced fishermen finally spotted the site where the snowmobile plunged into about two to three metres of water. There was a large hole where the snowmobile had broken through.

Fleming explained that Flatfoot was able to stay standing on the snowmobile after it plunged through the crack, but she was in the water about four hours.

At the time of the rescue, Flatfoot was conscious and dressed in layers of clothing, including a snowmobile suit which provided the insulation that probably helped save her life. She didn’t even suffer frostbite.

“She was standing on the machine that had sunk under the water and she was in the water, chest deep in the water. Sandra kept her cool, yes,” Fleming said.

“She tried to get out a few times, but from the way the ice broke, in a circle around them, she couldn’t reach the ice to grab onto anything.

“It’s a miracle. She’s lucky to be alive and she’ll be all right with time. She’s in shock.”

Flatfoot spent the night at the Winnipegosis hospital and was released Sunday morning.

Fleming said her brother, a father of four, was an experienced fisherman, often fishing with her husband and their father.

“Monte never would have knowingly driven over a crack in the ice. A crack must have opened up when they were driving off the ice in the dark. He didn’t see it,” Fleming said.

She said her family is upset with the RCMP for not beginning a recovery effort sooner, leaving the family to do it.

The Menards had hoped RCMP divers would be in the water Sunday, but the plan was for divers to search on Monday.

But RCMP spokeswoman Line Karpish stressed a safe approach was key.

“Our members did what they were supposed to do. They contacted the underwater team. They couldn’t go out there (themselves). It wasn’t safe,” Karpish said.

By Sunday, the dive team was assembling in Winnipeg, checking ice conditions on the lake and preparing to make the trip with their gear when they heard the family had recovered the body.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca