Paddle boarder saves drowning dog from icy waters of Kananaskis River
CTV
A stand-up paddle boarding competition on the Kananaskis River over the weekend took an unexpected turn for one competitor who leapt into action to save a drowning dog from the river’s raging, icy waters.
A stand-up paddle boarding competition on the Kananaskis River over the weekend took an unexpected turn for one competitor who leapt into action to save a drowning dog from the river’s raging, icy waters.
The dramatic rescue effort by Jackie Stefaniuk on Sunday (Aug. 11) was captured on camera by onlookers, including Stefaniuk’s husband Bill.
She had just finished competing in a downriver race at KanFest – an annual whitewater festival on the Kananaskis River – and was paddling laps on a big elbow drop section of the river known as cartwheel corner.
“I was standing on shore getting ready to do another lap and this woman came over to me and she says ‘excuse me, I don’t know what your skill level is, but there’s a dog stuck in an eddy across the river and he’s gonna drown. Do you think you can help?’”
Stefaniuk, who is from Cochrane and an experienced paddler and swiftwater rescue technician, did not hesitate to heed the call.
“She pointed to the dog and I could see him in the eddy. I did a little thinking before I jumped in the water to assess the situation. I jumped into the water and then I went into rescue mode, and so I got onto my board on my knees.”
The eddy was familiar to Stefaniuk and she navigated the current with great effort to paddle into it, but it did not change the fact the dog, struggling to claw its way out of the river onto a sheer rock face, still wanted nothing to do with her.
