A tragic weekend in terms of drownings in Quebec

Three days, four drownings: on the eve of the construction holidays, Quebec draws up a sad toll of loss of life in the province’s lakes, rivers and swimming pools, while rescuers are busy.

Lila Dussault
The Press

Sun, heat, start of vacation: all the ingredients were there this weekend for Quebecers to seek refreshment in the water. But for four families, the pleasure turned into mourning.

First, on Friday, a tragedy shook the Super Aqua Club in Pointe-Calumet, in the Laurentians, where a 14-year-old girl was found in a small artificial lake after a slip. Despite cardiac resuscitation maneuvers by the rescue team, he was pronounced dead in a Montreal hospital at the end of the evening.

The young girl was accompanied by two adult sisters, who notified the emergency services when they lost sight of her. “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim,” the Super Aqua Club said on its Facebook page. The establishment closed for the rest of the weekend.

The same evening, a 28-year-old man drowned in a private lake on the way to 6^e Row, in Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides. Originally from Rimouski, he was not a good swimmer and did not wear a life jacket, according to people who were with him that evening.

And the weekend was just beginning. On Saturday, the mercury rose again in much of the province. At the end of the afternoon, at the beach of Sablon, in Montérégie, a 43-year-old man rushed at the end of a rope into a shallow lake and did not come back up. He was rescued, but without success. His death was confirmed on Sunday.

Almost 300 kilometers away, in Mauricie, a 49-year-old swimmer who was trying to cross the Batiscan River was lost to sight near Notre-Dame-de-Montauban. His body was recovered by emergency services on Sunday.

More and more rescues

So far, 36 people have lost their lives in a body of water since the start of the summer season, according to Raynald Hawkins, director of the Quebec Lifesaving Society. Last year at this time, there were 46 drownings.

While there were admittedly fewer drownings in 2022 than in 2021, Lifesaving Society lifeguards are reporting that more and more people aren’t able to fend for themselves in the water, Hawkins says.

As a result, rescuers are making more rescues, Hawkins points out, “and not just in children, but in adults as well.”

know how to bathe

According to Lifesaving Society statistics, 33% of people are considered non-swimmers. But there is also a difference between knowing how to swim and knowing how to bathe, believes Mr Hawkins.

Several drownings seem to occur among newcomers, also notes Mr. Hawkins. In addition, children have had less access to swimming lessons in recent years due to the pandemic.

In this sense, the director puts a lot of hope in the Swim to Survive program, offered by the Lifesaving Society to children aged 8 and over in Quebec schools. The program aims to assess each child’s water skills and teach them the basic skills to survive a fall into deep water.

“By going through the school system, we will reach the entire population, hopes Mr. Hawkins. And given that I tell you that people know how to swim less and less, we are going to work hard so that they have swimming lessons as quickly as possible. »