A father and son are grateful to be safe, warm and on land after being rescued from the Crescent Beach waters.
"You feel a little ashamed when you do something like this but everyone, all the responders, were just so positive, they were all outstanding," said Greg Monroe, the man rescued from the Crescent Beach Marina on Tuesday night (Nov. 26).
Monroe and his 12-year-old son Gordon went out in the ocean from Crescent Beach that evening to lay crab traps, something the father does frequently, he said.
After setting the traps in the water, the two began heading back to shore in their small, tin boat that Monroe now admits "was not the safest."
While attempting to avoid hitting seagulls coming right towards the boat, Monroe said he accidentally hit the motor of the boat, which made it jerk forward. The father and son held on tight.
"And then the boat tipped because both of us flew to the one side so the boat tipped right and then it started to fill up with water and then that was it," Monroe said.
"It righted itself for just a few seconds and then it just sank from underneath us and it went right down. Then it was just he and I floating."
This was at about 5 p.m. and already dark. With Monroe's quick action, he reached for his phone and retrieved it from his pocket and managed to keep it out of the water. He made a couple of calls to see if anyone local of his friends could bring their boat out to save them, with no luck.
The father then called 911 as he lay floating on his back, thankfully wearing a life-jacket.
"My son Gordon was a real trooper," Monroe said.
"As time went on, that’s when we started getting a little scared. ... It was 27 minutes then it was 32 minutes then 37 minutes."
The two were in the water for roughly 50 minutes before they were rescued by the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue for Crescent Beach.
They tried swimming to shore, but with Monroe trying to keep the phone out of the water, swimming with only one arm was proving to be difficult for the father, who was also wearing large, heavy boots. Although Gordon was able to swim further, he didn't want his son to get too far away from him so the two remained where they were and huddled together for warmth instead.
"Just as we were starting to give up hope, the helicopter came over," Monroe shared.
A few minutes later, the father saw a boat coming from behind his back and finally felt relief in his "freezing" body.
Gordon was able to successfully swim over to the boat but for Monroe, the task seemed impossible. The SAR team opped to pull the father in with a rope and began getting the two warm while heading back to the beach.
Rona Tepper, one of the volunteers involved in the rescue, said that the team took slightly longer to find the father and son because initially, they had reported being near the pier but were actually closer to Kwomais Point.
"They were definitely in mid stages of hypothermia, they were pretty cold. They were still able to talk but it was getting a bit lucid," she shared.
There was also a crew on land near Christopherson Steps in the case that the two were able to swim to shore.
While out on the water, Monroe said his friends and family were out on the beach trying to locate the two on the water, calling their names but the father and son heard nothing.
After the immediate and hospital treatment, the father and son are grateful to be OK and were able to go home that same night from Peace Arch Hospital.
"The police officer had a bit of a stern talking to me. One of the things he said was ‘I told your wife where to get thermal gear from.' He also said, ‘Realize this, you got lucky,'" Monroe said.
"From the 911 operator to the nurses and the doctor … I can’t say enough about the amount of people that did the right thing and just absolutely executed this process."
Tepper encourages anyone planning to go out onto the water to "prepare for the worst."
"Conditions can change at a moment's notice; winds could pick up, fog could roll in," she explained.
"They did have some warm clothing on, but it gets dark quick, it gets dark really early. We recommend that you always wear a PFD (personal flotation device), always dress for the weather and always be prepared for changes."
Additionally, Tepper said to have a charged cellphone and always tell someone else when you plan on going out into the water and share your location.
"Always check in with people and let them know when you are back.
"We're so grateful that this rescue was successful. ... This was a great example of all first responders coming out and working together and having a great outcome."
