Spectacular rescue

Officers Daniel Tétreault and Jean-Sébastien Masson were patrolling along LaSalle Boulevard. When they reached 60th Avenue, officer Masson noticed a sea-doo that was drifting about. Two people were in the water but the officers weren’t aware that they needed help. One of the victims was in the water while the other person was trying desperately to re-start the vessel’s engine. Then one of the two victims screamed to the officers that he didn’t know how to swim. When the officers got to station 13, an emergency call was launched on the radio. Officer Daniel Tétreault said: “I stopped the police car above 43rd Avenue and I began to pick up my things. I grabbed the navigation buoy in the car. The victims started to panic and we yelled at them saying we were going after them. In less than a minute, they went down into the river quickly; we knew that the next kilometre would be the rapids.”

Daniel Tétreault decided to plunge into the river to save the drowning victims. “We tried to rescue them with navigation buoys but we were too far. We changed course and followed the current going towards 40th Avenue and it was on that spot that I decided to jump into the water. The victims were finally able to grab the buoy and I managed to bring them back into the river. I made the choice of going into the water but I never panicked because I knew that my colleagues were on the alert. One minute later, they were in the rapids. I was aware of the water plan and my capabilities; I knew that I could reach the victims and bring them back safely. I believed that it was time for me to go at that particular time.”

What about the victims? “I let them rest and then I asked them to help me because I had two people on the buoy and my legs were tired. They were key players in their own rescue because they gave all they could to help me.”

Sergeant Alain Rioux gave officer Tétreault and the victims a strong helping hand by going into the water to hand them a second navigation buoy to make their upward journey easier until the river. Officers Micheline Chamandy and Jean-Sébastien Masson combined strengths to help Sergeant Rioux who scooped the two struggling men and officer Tétreault out of the water.

Léo-Paul Audet of Ville-Émard and Jonathan Forget of LaSalle were the victims who almost drowned. “We lost our balance by shifting positions and the sea-doo just turned upside down. We put it back in place but it went down a second time. Water seeped in and there was nothing else we could do. The water wasn’t too cold but the currents were really strong. Trapped on the spot, we realised how strong the currents were, but when you see police officers running, you begin to see that you’re going very quickly and don’t know where you’re headed. We panicked a bit when we saw that we were going towards the direction of the rapids.”