RCMP Watch

A New Brunswick Mountie who waded into the frigid water of the Bay of Chaleur to save a canoeist from drowning Saturday says his height was definitely an asset in the rescue.

“I was taller than the other people at the scene, I’m six-foot-four, so I could wade out and then it was just a short swim to get to him,” Cpl. Dan Melanson said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Melanson is a native of St. Paul, north of Moncton, and an eight-year veteran of the RCMP who is being hailed by his superiors as a hero for quick action in saving canoeist 45-year-old Glen Moore.

The incident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday, when RCMP received a call about a capsized canoe in the Bay of Chaleur in Jacquet River. Melanson, who is posted to the District 9 detachment in Belledune, answered the call.

“I was the only one in the area, and it was about three kilometres from our office. When I arrived at the scene, there was a group of people on the shore and one of them had already tried to rescue him. All I could see was the overturned canoe and the top of his head and his white knuckles holding onto the paddle. He was submerged and his face was in the water. The water was frigid so I decided to give it a try.”

Melanson removed some of his equipment and clothing and waded into the cold water of the bay, moving quickly until it was up to his neck. From there, he started swimming. Moore, 45, could not swim, was not wearing a lifejacket and was losing strength. He was about 30 metres from shore and the water was about eight feet deep.

Melanson said Moore was semi-conscious and moaning. The Mountie had arrived just in time. Melanson was able to grab him, swim for shallower water and then wade ashore. The whole incident lasted only two or three minutes.

Moore was taken to hospital in Bathurst for treatment of hypothermia. Reached in hospital yesterday, he said he was still shaken up and thankful for the rescue, but too tired to comment further.

Sgt. Scott Sawyer of District 9 RCMP praised Melanson’s quick-thinking and stamina.

“We get a bit of rescue training and a short lesson on how to recover a drowning person (at the RCMP academy in Regina), but not much more than that. We try to be in good physical shape and it’s tough to swim any distance in cold water like that and bring a person back to shore — that proves he’s in good shape.”

Melanson doesn’t think of himself as a hero, but just doing the job and glad he could be there to help. Of course now he has to go through the tougher chore of putting up with the jokes from his fellow Mounties.