AN 18-YR.-OLD EDMONTON, ALBERTA, MAN IS ALIVE TODAY thanks to a fortunate decision by an Edmonton FD company to do some pre-planning. The fire company was scouting along the North Saskatchewan River looking for a good site to set up a river-rescue drill when they heard a faint call for help. Following the sound, they came across the man stuck waist-deep in mud along the riverbank.
The Canadian Press reported:
Rescue workers say the 18-year-old man was suffering from hypothermia and could barely speak. The teen had been stuck in the mud overnight with the cold waters of the North Saskatchewan flowing around him. He was taken to University of Alberta Hospital to be treated for exposure.
Rescue crews say it was lucky that the temperature was mild overnight and that likely played a big role in the man’s survival. Firefighter Sean Desmarais says it was “an amazing coincidence” they were there because they are not usually out on the river at that time of the year.
“We could hear some kind of muted cries and at first we couldn’t figure out if it was some kind of animal or something, because it was on the opposite shore so we went over to investigate and we saw a guy,” said Desmarais.
They aren’t sure how he got stuck in the mud, but the FF’s say that the water level is unusually low for this time of year and it’s possible that he just walked too close to the river and sank down in the quicksand-like mud.
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