Lifesaving Society honours 2021 Grand Beach rescue group

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This article was published 26/01/2023 (1001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brett Chestley, 41, was trained in water-based lifesaving training when he was just 17, but couldn’t have imagined he’d have to use it the way he did decades later.

It was a story that made headlines in May 2021.

When two girls on inflatables were pushed beyond the buoy lines by an offshore Lake Winnipeg breeze at Grand Beach, and their father ran in after them and was also struggling to stay afloat, a heroic group effort of beachgoers brought the family back to dry land.

Chestley jumped in to provide support, swimming out to help the couple who first witnessed the incident and had gone to retrieve them.

On Thursday night, he was recognized for that quick thinking as one of the 17 recipients of the Lifesaving Society Manitoba’s Rescue and Honour Awards. The annual honours recognize the efforts of both trained and untrained Manitobans who stepped in to rescue someone at risk of drowning.

Chestley was one of two recipients of the M.G. Griffiths Award, named after a former president of the Lifesaving Society and given to those with lifesaving training who were involved in a rescue (the other 15 recipients Thursday had no formal training and instead received the Rescue Commendation Award).

To be recognized at all was, he said, a “super humbling” experience.

“This is just something that was kind of second nature to all of us, but to be recognized is cool, because it certainly was very, very scary, and to think back on it can be painful at times,” he said. “So for someone to come along and say, ‘Hey, here’s something for us,’ it’s a very nice touch, it’s humbling.”

The couple who first jumped into the efforts to save the family, Cynthia and Jason James Cherewayko, along with others involved with the rescue (Aaron Clayton, Paddy Boult, Toni Boult, Mike Ross and Blake Morden) all received awards for their heroism as well.

“There’s memories that are kind of stuck there that will never go away: how cold the water is, the fear of not knowing when you can touch the bottom again. I remember the breathing, I remember controlling my breathing and being like, ‘This is getting pretty scary,’” Chestley said.

“There are people that were in there for a lot longer than I did that are, I’m sure, are struggling with it a lot worse… It just sticks with you.”

It’s easy to take your eyes off of children near water, he added, and recommended anyone heading to the beach or near any body of water this summer remember nature can be erratic.

“All it takes is two seconds to take a look at your phone, or maybe respond to your wife who’s asking you where your towels are set up or whatever, but it’s very easy,” Chestley said.

“So just keep a very close eye, and recognize the fact that water is very unpredictable, wind is even worse, and when they combine it can be dangerous quick.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca