Brian Vanderlinde gives every impression of being uncomfortable with the word B次元官网网址渉ero.B次元官网网址�
When asked a direct question he is liable to shrug and look away. His answers are short, and straightforward.
His wife leans in with a smile. B次元官网网址淏rian is a very modest person.B次元官网网址�
But modesty wasnB次元官网网址檛 the quality Vanderlinde drew on, when he jumped into a fast flowing creek and used an axe to smash the back window of an overturned and submerged car, crawled though the broken glass into the vehicle and wrestled an unconscious toddler to safety.
Vanderlinde, who lives in Keremeos, and Gary Lind of Princeton were honored Wednesday with the BC Ambulance Good Samaritan Award.
Vanderlinde was driving on Highway 5A near Princeton with his 12-year-old son, on October 17, 2017, when he came across the scene.
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B次元官网网址淚 was trying to figure out why there was a wet lady on the road,B次元官网网址� he said.
The woman screamed: B次元官网网址淢y son! My son!B次元官网网址�
Vanderlinde then saw the car, upside down in the water.
He recalls looking at his own child. B次元官网网址淚 said B次元官网网址榮orryB次元官网网址� and then I handed him my phone and told him to call 911.B次元官网网址�
Vanderlinde wasnB次元官网网址檛 able to open any of the vehicleB次元官网网址檚 doors. He tried without success to kick in the rear window.
When asked if the water was cold Vanderlinde said: B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 really notice.B次元官网网址�
When asked what he was thinking, he said: B次元官网网址淚 was just doing.B次元官网网址�
As he was scrambling on the bank, looking for a rock to break the glass, a local truck driver, Gary Lind, arrived and threw an axe to Vanderlinde.
He broke the window and struggled to release the boy, who was suspended by his seat belt, underwater. Once he was freed Vanderlinde said: B次元官网网址淚t just looked like, in his eyes, he was dead.B次元官网网址�
Lind took the three-year-old and began resuscitation efforts. A doctor who was also on the highway stopped and took over treatment, just before paramedics arrived.
Vanderlinde said he experienced great relief when bubbles started coning from the boyB次元官网网址檚 mouth B次元官网网址渁nd then his eyes kind of came backB次元官网网址e was back.B次元官网网址�
Paramedic Daniel Peacock, who nominated the two men for the Good Samaritan Award, said their B次元官网网址渜uick thinking and selfless actionsB次元官网网址aved the life of a child.B次元官网网址�
RCMP reported shortly after the incident that the child was underwater for approximately three minutes, but made a full recovery.
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