On July 28, at approximately 7:50 p.m., Nelson House RCMP received a report of several children stranded on a dock floating on Footprint Lake across the RC Channel in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.
Officers attended immediately and learned that the dock had broken away from the shore. It was freely floating on the lake and drifting downstream. None of the children had life jackets.
One officer remained on shore to keep visual contact with the dock while other members went to launch the boat, approximately five minutes from the location of the dock. Several officers went in the boat and were able to safely get all five children on board. Officers returned the physically uninjured children to shore and reunited them with their parents.
The children are all female and ranged in age from 7-14, and all but one were from the community. One female is from Thompson.
“We are very glad this had a happy ending,” said Sergeant Shaun Sample, Nelson House RCMP Detachment Commander. “Of course they weren’t wearing life jackets; they were on a dock tied to shore, so to be free-floating in a current without a life jacket would be a very frightening ordeal for them. We were all very relieved to get them safely on the boat and back to their parents.”
“We are very thankful for the assistance of the RCMP in getting the young women back to their parents,” said Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation Chief Angela Levasseur. “I would like to encourage all parents to be mindful of their children when playing around water.”
