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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Rescuer needed rescuing
Saves boy, gets stuck in riverbed
Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press Const. Kevin Gibson, who rescued a boy from the Red River, had to be rescued himself after he got stuck in the river mud. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
A Winnipeg police officer who rescued a 15-year-old boy from the Red River Sunday afternoon had to be rescued himself after he became stuck in river mud.
Const. Kevin Gibson went to the Point Douglas side of the Louise Bridge just after 1 p.m. Sunday, responding to a call of a man struggling in the river.
Gibson said the man who fit the description was safe and fishing on the shore from a nearby boat launch but as he looked around the area, he saw a person in the river 30 metres upstream.
"I started running in that direction and sure enough I see a head in the water and an arm grasping out," Gibson, 44, who was the first officer on the scene, said. "He went under the water twice... I jumped in the river."
Gibson said the boy was about eight metres from shore. He grabbed him and got him back towards the shore until he could stand up.
That's when the river bottom got hold of Gibson.
"I carried him out of the river -- he was stiff as a board, shivering and (he) couldn't talk and (was) crying.
"I was going to carry him out in my arms but as I started walking on the river bottom I just sank past my knees and up to my waist.
"I'm stuck, in water up to my neck and holding him up out of the water."
Gibson said he was afraid of losing his balance and falling under if he tried to move. He decided to stay put until help arrived.
"It wasn't worth the risk. I just waited, holding him like that until someone could take him from me."
Gibson's superior, Sgt. Ed Chalmers, arrived, waded out to help Gibson but he too sank into the river bottom to his knees.
"(Chalmers) stayed there, an arm's-length away, and was there in case I needed help to hold up the boy."
Gibson said the river must have been cold but he never noticed it.
"That was the last thing on my mind," he said. "The adrenaline is going, I'm in work mode, I had my full uniform on and a bullet-proof vest. I never noticed it."
A Winnipeg fire rescue boat arrived and its crew jumped into the water, placed the boy onto a stretcher board, lifted him up into the boat and took him to shore to awaiting paramedics.
Gibson watched, still stuck up to his waist in the river bottom.
"They made a human chain with firemen and yanked me out of the river."
Gibson said other officers accompanied the boy to hospital. He never learned how the boy found himself in the river.
Gibson just celebrated his 24th anniversary as a member of the Winnipeg Police Service. He had to jump into the Red River once before, in the spring of 1997 when a car plunged in near the Disraeli Bridge and witnesses didn't see anyone climb out. He tied a rope around his waist and went in but there was no one inside the car.
Turns out the car was stolen and the thieves had locked the accelerator pedal down and launched it, empty, down the bank and into the river.
"I felt kind of embarrassed... I risked my life to go into an empty car," he said. "Over 24 years, I've been in the river twice."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 21, 2012 A2
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