Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My New Hero -- A Triathlete

I have a new hero: A triathlete, Casey Peirce, who dove into fridgid waters in Canada to save a couple who had capsized in their canoe. The story is amazing. What a gift she gave them -- the gift of life.

Despite the danger of diving into the frigid mountain water near Canmore, a
Calgary triathlete risked her safety to rescue a pair of boaters whose canoe had
capsized, dragging them and their boat to shore.
Casey Peirce, 30, was on a
bicycle ride with family near Spray Lakes Saturday night, when the group heard
two people in the water yelling for help.
They saw a man and woman about a
kilometre from shore clinging to their overturned canoe and Peirce, a strong
swimmer, dove in for them.
"To be honest I thought twice about jumping in
because I know how cold that water is," said Peirce, who works at the Canadian
Sports Centre in Calgary.
"But I had recently done a triathlon and I knew I
had the training to do it."

She said it took 15 minutes to swim out to the couple, but
at least 45 minutes to swim back with them in tow, her sister Darcy dialling 911
from shore.
Peirce said she knew that since the couple had already been in
the water for an hour, and the woman was mostly submerged, that they didn't have
a lot of time left before they might have succumbed to the cold water.
"When
I got to them, I first asked them if they were injured, but they were both too
cold to speak," Peirce said.
"I knew by the time anyone else got to them, it
would be too late."
The swim proved trying for the triathlete, as she towed
the canoe with a rope tied around her waist, her hands too cold to pull it.

4 comments:

Trihardist said...

That's amazing. I don't think i could do that. I'm not sure I would even try.

Something for all of us to aspire to.

Michelle said...

Wow - incredible story!

momo said...

that's incredible. i don't think i could have done it. thank God for people like casey.

Anonymous said...

Hi Tri-Mom,
Thanks so much for your (and your readers') kind comments. It was really a case of right people, right place, right time (and right training!) but now it has turned into quite the surreal experience with all the recognition! I certainly could not have done it without my tri training (it's only my second year) so thank goodness for this wonderful sport! I am really amazed by how great the tri community has been to join, everyone has been very friendly and welcoming to myself and my friends.
Thank you again and best wishes!
Casey