A dramatic rescue took place at Wellington Dam last Saturday that potentially saved three lives from drowning.
Holly Scouler and her partner Glen Thompson from Austriland, along with a group of friends, decided to go for a picnic down at Wellington Dam, a decision that would save three people’s lives.
Their quick actions to dive in to the ice cold water potentially saved the lives of the two young boys and their mother.
“When we got there the two families were sitting down at the dam as we were setting up our gazebo we were watching the families, the dads were on the shore and one of the mothers with two boys”
“Within a split second, the mother and the two little boys were washed down the rapids and were taken away by the currant, there’s next to no buoyancy in the fresh water and they were really struggling,” she said.
“When we noticed they had been washed away, the fathers and the other mother and two boys who were on dry land were at the edge of the water screaming ‘no they can’t swim, they can’t swim, what we do, someone help.’”
Without hesitation Ms Schouler’s friend Anthony Wilkes jumped in the water and Ms Scouler and her partner Glen closely followed.
“We swam about 100 to 150 metres downstream before we reached them and by the time we had got to them, the mother looked as though she was about ready to give up her life.”
“The two boys were panicking and had jumped on the mother to try and get their head above water, holding her head under water in the process,” she said.
“Glen and Anthony grabbed the mother and tried to hold her above the water, the boy’s struggled to let go of the mother in their panicked state and Ms Scouler grabbed the boy and held him above water whilst trying to get him to shore. The boy was kicking and screaming at the time,” Ms Schouler explained.
“ At this point we were struggling against the current which had picked up, but we eventually got them up on some flat rocks.”
“ It was clear that the family had no basic swimming or lifesaving skills.”
Ms Scouler’s group were the only people at the Dam at that time, so without them the situation could have been much worse.
“If we hadn’t been there at that exact time, I just don’t know what would have happened.”
Earlier in the day Ms Scouler had another stroke of luck when her cat had a lucky escape.
“ We pulled in to the petrol station and my cat ran out from under the car, he had travelled with us from Kingston Estate to Treendale and we were going about 80 kilometres an hour, I’m surprised he survived,” said Ms Scouler.
The family were very thankful to their rescuers and were in shock once they reached dry land.
Ms Scouler, who works in Collie, stressed the importance of teaching children and their parent’s water safety, and being familiar with the environment that you are swimming in.
“I dread to think what would have happened if we weren’t there, there would have been three deceased people.”
If you know the family who were rescued please get in touch with the Collie Mail. shannon.wood@fairfaxmedia.com.au