If you happened to be watching A-Channel News @ 11 you might have briefly heard Paul Mennier mention there was a bit of excitement down by the flooded dock of the Edmonton Queen. Well, here's what happened:
It just so happened that Nicole and I were taking a walk through the Rivervalley to gawk at the flood waters, and on our journey back home, we came upon the dock. There was quite a few people there taking pictures and videos, an EPS presence, and A-Channel was all set up in front of the flooded scene to do a live report for the evening news. Just as I'd finished taking a video of the river, I casually noticed a drunken old man standing close to Paul Mennier and the "Police Line" barricade tape. I figured he was just rambling when he said something to the effect of "You want a story? I'll give you a story!" then took off his jacket and started walking towards the river.
Paul started screaming at the guy to stop, then started screaming for the police officer, who was casually leaning against his cruiser talking to his buddies. The officer eventually ran down to the man and it looked like things were under control (the drunk slowed down and faced the officer) when things went wrong very quickly. The man darted for the bank, the officer tried to tackle him, and then yelled out for help.
In the few instances it took us onlookers to fully grasp the situation, and even start to react, the old guy was in the icy waters and disappeared from sight. A half dozen of us immediately rushed down the path alongside the river to try and see what'd happened to him - I was running so fast my cell phone launched into the bushes. I got to the end of the Queen and the guy was nowhere in sight! A few anxious seconds later, his head popped up from under the water, and the crew of the EQ threw him a life preserver.
At this point he was still 20 metres from the shore, and floating past tremendously fast. He struggled to grasp the preserver then continued to speed down the river past the pedestrian bridge. More cops came running by as we directed them where to go; heck, Paul Mennier himself stopped to ask me what had happened! The whole fiasco was the damnedest thing I'd ever witnessed and the adrenaline was still pumping when I walked back to the dock to rendezvous with Nicole.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but it's frustrating to think why I didn't do more. Things like this happen in a flash, and to be honest, my initial reaction was hesitation. Could I have rushed down to help the cop in time? Was there something I could have done to reach the freezing, drunken man from the flooded shore? They always tell you to leave things like this up to the professionals, but I was right there and a man's life was hanging in the balance. I can rest easier knowing they eventually pulled him out of the river, alive, but it was more than a little unsettling to witness.
Currently: Programming the coffee maker. Will we have brew awaiting @ 7am!?
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