A Sarnia couple is recounting a tense situation on the St. Clair River near the Bluewater Bridge Thursday afternoon that saw them rescue a swimmer in distress.
Dave and Marilyn Bourne were aboard their sailboat, Ripple, at around 3:30 p.m. when they came across a girl in the shipping channel with no life jacket.
They were losing sight of her because of the waves.
Marilyn was at the helm and guided the boat toward the girl.
Dave acted quickly and threw her a life preserver. He said they circled around again and threw her a tow line.
"She was really in distress and panicking quite a bit," said Dave. "She was really tired, she had been trying to get ashore so badly. We calmed her down and said 'everything is going to be ok, we're just going to tow you to shore'. We got her close, to within about 20 feet of shore, and pulled her back up underneath the bridge to the eddy current where we knew that she would be pulled in towards the shore."
The swimmer was checked by Lambton EMS, and Point Edward Fire and Rescue also attended the scene.
The volunteer fire department said the Bournes' quick actions helped prevent a tragedy.
Dave is thankful they were able to help out.
"At supper, we talked about all of the different things that had happened throughout the day and in the afternoon and just put us right there at that time. We're just really happy that we were in the right spot at the right time."
The Bournes' sailboat is named after the Grateful Dead tune of the same name.
