Winnipeg family mourns death of rescuer

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Sheilah Sweatman is remembered as the 'heart and soul' of her family. (FAMILY PHOTO)

Wynn Sweatman is struggling with the tragic irony surrounding the death of his daughter -- a search-and-rescue technician in southern British Columbia.

Sheilah Sweatman, 29, drowned Wednesday afternoon during a recovery attempt in a raging river near Creston, B.C.

A dozen people were searching a submerged vehicle for occupants presumed drowned in the dangerously swollen Goat River when Sweatman -- who began volunteering with the Kootenay Swift Water Specialists two years ago -- fell off a rescue boat. She never surfaced.

Sweatman's body was finally recovered Thursday, leaving her close-knit family in Winnipeg heartbroken and looking for answers.

"It's ironic that that's how she died," said her father, through tears. "It's terrible."

Sweatman was the first search-and-rescue (SAR) volunteer in B.C. history to die while in the service.

"She thought it was an important mission to provide help to other people," said Wynn Sweatman. "... Maybe save a life."

He said even when rescues became recovery missions, his daughter was committed to help.

"She thought it was very, very important to recover those that had already died, for the peace of mind that it would give to their families," Wynn Sweatman said.

"She was one of the strongest people physically, pound for pound, that I've ever known. She was extraordinarily fit.

"I think somebody probably planned this mission incorrectly."

The incident remains under investigation by the B.C. Coroner Service and Work Safe B.C.

"This is truly a very sad day for our 2,500 search-and-rescue volunteers in B.C.," said Don Bindon, president of the B.C. Search and Rescue Association.

SAR volunteers who were with Sweatman when she fell off the boat are being offered counselling.

"Debriefings have taken place. More are underway," Bindon said.

The owner of the submerged vehicle, 23-year-old Lana Chipesia, is presumed drowned but remains classified as a missing person until she is located, said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk of the B.C. RCMP.

The middle child of five, Sweatman was the "heart and soul" of the family said Wynn Sweatman. He said she texted her mother, Teddi, "Good night" each and every evening. "And now she's gone."

Sheilah graduated from Kelvin High School and the University of Manitoba before eventually moving west to the Rockies looking for adventure.

She settled near Nelson, B.C., but loved Winnipeg and had the Prairies in her soul.

On one of her last visits home, Wynn Sweatman recalled, his daughter asked to pull the car over during a drive near Steinbach.

"It was a gorgeous summer day and the canola fields were fantastic," said Wynn Sweatman. And standing in the golden field at the crest of a hill, "she said, 'it was so beautiful, I've missed it.' "

Sweatman spent her days working part-time at the Nelson Animal Hospital, always carrying the beeper that would send her scrambling to her next mission.

"She was fiercely independent," said Wynn Sweatman, adding his daughter planned to pursue nursing studies to become an emergency first responder. "She was passionate about life.

"She had -- what I see every time I close my eyes -- fiery dark eyes... Absolute fire in them all the time."

An artist as well as a trained carpenter, Sweatman was equal parts sensitivity and guts. "She called B.S. every time she heard it," said her father.

Sweatman had adopted a German sheppard puppy a few months ago and was training the dog for avalanche search and rescue. Her family plans to take in the dog, even if they don't quite know how to train it.

"We'll fulfil her greater ambition," said Wynn Sweatman, "... Which was to do the right thing all the time."

B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Solicitor-General Shirley Bond expressed their condolences to the woman's family, friends and fellow search-and-rescue workers.

"It is with deep sorrow that I learned of the tragic loss of this young woman," Bond said.

"This is a tragic example of the risk SAR personnel face and we will provide any support that is needed."

-- with files from Postmedia News Service meghan.potkins@winnipegfreepress.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 2, 2011 A1