It was a team effort that saved a Blind Bay man’s life.
Contractor Paul Hickson and Dale Kilmartin were driving from Eagle Bay towards Blind Bay Wednesday, April 26, when they spotted a boat going around in circles in the bay.
“I slowed down a bit to check it out and could see there was nobody in the boat,” says Hickson. “Then I saw someone in the water.”
That someone was Bob Wolfe, who had fallen from his boat while fishing.
Wolfe says he tried to swim down to get away from his boat, but the propeller sliced his head open. He started to swim away and when he saw the boat coming back at him, raised his arm to save his head.
“When it came at me the third time I knew I couldn’t out-swim the boat, so I stayed in place and kicked the side so it would turn and go a different angle – and it did,” said Wolfe. “Then I started screaming and screaming for help.”
Hearing the screams, Hickson took an aluminum fishing boat from a residence about 100 metres down the beach and he and Kilmartin grabbed two-by-sixes to paddle out to where Wolfe was struggling in the water.
“I noticed he had major issues – his head was gashed open something fierce, leaving a good trail of blood,” says Hickson, who immediately called for an ambulance. “He was in major shock.”
Kilmartin grabbed Wolfe, holding onto him while a boat Kilmartin and Hickson had flagged down, came along the opposite side, so Hickson could hang on while they were pulled to the shore.
Another Blind Bay resident, Greg Moore, had arrived on the scene after becoming concerned by the sound of a boat going in circles. He helped Kilmartin get Wolfe up to a grassy area.
“The guy was amazing, the strength he had after what he went through is amazing,” said Hickson, pointing out how Wolfe’s luck continued as Moore’s partner and first-aid provider, Nancy Bell, showed up with her truck loaded with medical supplies.
“Everything was in line for him, he was on the edge of going over and not coming back,” says Hickson. “His arm was totally thrashed. She stabilized him and gave him oxygen.”
Awed by how events happened in Wolfe’s favour, Hickson says he doesn’t often have his cell phone in his pocket and he had warm clothing in his truck to help warm Wolfe up.
Hickson says the ambulance responded to the 5:45 p.m. call very quickly, as did the South Shuswap First Responders. But Bell had already stabilized Wolfe for transport by ambulance to Shuswap Lake General Hospital.
“I just kept eye contact and said, ‘You’re OK, you’re safe, we’ve got you,” Hickson says.
Hickson was further amazed that Wolfe was worried about his boat and had the wherewithal to remember his phone number in order to call his wife.
The boat was still going around in circles so Hickson peeled a rope off a nearby dock and threw it in front of the runaway boat. It tangled in the prop and the boat finally stopped.
“We got someone who could tow the boat, so he got his boat safely home and he got fixed – he’s a lucky man,” says Hickson, downplaying his role in saving Wolfe’s life. “You don’t feel, you just do. I’m no hero, I just know if somebody’s hurt, you just keep control.”
Wolfe is recovering in Royal Inland Hospital, where he was transferred for surgery. He has some 50 stitches in his head and doesn’t know if he will ever get full use of his arm again.
But he’s taking things day by day and not making any plans for the future, except to visit with his rescuers to thank them in person when he gets home.
Shaken up by his dad’s misadventure, son Steve, says the Wolfe family is extremely grateful to the team of caring individuals who rescued his dad and saved his life.
