A 63 year-old woman was canoeing on Harrison River near Eagle Point in Harrison Mills on Saturday afternoon when she capsized into the water. Bystanders listened to the woman’s frantic cries for help, and a couple of attempts to get at her were unsuccessful, according to Harrison Mills resident Rutelle Rembridge.
It wasn’t until an RCMP officer that works for the First Nations Policing Unit who was off duty at the time, Niki Charlie, heard of the situation and ran outside from her location nearby and dove in to the water, swimming to the submerged woman to pull her out, that she was finally brought to safety.
“She managed to get her out, she was a real hero, she just went in after her and pulled her to safety,” Rembridge told The Observer. “The woman was suffering from hypothermia and they took her away in ambulance — if anyone deserves to be mentioned it’s Niki.”
Agassiz RCMP attended the scene and the woman was taken to hospital by ambulance where she was treated.