It took a group effort, spearheaded by a local sailing school, to rescue a woman who accidentally crashed her vehicle into the Meaford Harbour on Monday evening.
Around 6 p.m., members of the Sail Georgian Bay School were holding a board meeting. (The timing was fortunate, as usually, everyone would have gone home by then.) One member, Kyle Gilas, 28, leapt up and said a car just went into the harbour, so the group sprang into action.
Board Chair Liesbeth Halbertsma called 9-1-1, while Gilas and coaches Nathan Brand, 19; Griffin Dauphinee, 18; and Ilian Halbertsma, 23; ran toward the vehicle.
Grey Bruce OPP confirmed they received the call at 6:01 p.m. on July 29, and quickly arrived on-scene alongside Grey County Paramedics. The 78-year-old woman who was pulled from the vehicle was unharmed, and none of the rescuers suffered any injuries either.
"Once we got there, we saw that there was a lady in the car," said Brand. "She was surprisingly calm. I believe at this time I threw the life ring in the water and Ilian hopped in. We started asking her to open the windows but the electrical, I guess had shorted in the car."
Gilas grabbed an emergency hammer from his vehicle, and Dauphinee brought it to Halbertsma. While they were unable to get the front window open before that end of the car submerged, they encouraged the woman to climb in the backseat. Rebecca Vail, the owner of a boat that was docked near the car when it went in, also lent a hand.
"There was someone on the boat nearby who was trying to help hold the car up to give it a little more buoyancy, which definitely helped as well," said Halbertsma.
After a few tries, Halbertsma was able to break the back window, at which point, they had to act fast.
"The water level started to rise on the car, I grabbed her arm, then the car was underwater," he said. "I pulled her out, then we got to the surface, at that point we were maybe a foot or two under."
Dauphinee and Brand helped her into the life ring and up the ladder to safety, where by that time, emergency services were on scene.
The entire lifesaving rescue lasted under five minutes.
"I think I can speak for all of us, it's safe to say we're very fortunate and lucky for the outcome of the situation," said Brand.
While the coaches do have training for what to do in case someone gets trapped underneath a capsized sailboat, that scenario has never come up while on the water.
"We might not have felt prepared in that moment, but I think in hindsight we can say we were mentally prepared to deal with getting someone out of a situation, even if its a very different kind of situation, just because we have to be prepared for if someone is stuck in a sailboat," said Halbertsma.
The trio of coached emphasized that it was a collaborative effort, noting that board members Lisa Newey and Neil Marshall were also present and ready to assist.
"It was the right place, right time and the right people; we made quite the team," said Brand. "This was a big team effort."
After an incredible amount of excitement this week, Sail Georgian Bay still has lots of summer programming underway. The school will hold its annual Ironside Youth Regatta on August 17. You can find out more details on their social media.