United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel David Johnson and his family live on the shores of Four Mile Bay in North Bay, Ontario, and are familiar with the sounds of snowmobiles racing by their home. That’s how Lt Col Johnson knew something was terribly wrong on March 15, 2009, as he was preparing for bed.
“Usually, the snowmobiles travel quickly by our place, but the sound this engine made was different--it was running slowly,” said Lt Col Johnson, Commanding Officer of the 722nd Air Control Squadron at 22 Wing North Bay, Ont., who serves in Canada as a member of the bi-national NORAD mission.
Just as he was thinking it was possible that a snowmobile might go into the open water, he went out into his backyard and heard screams and water splashes. The usual mono-light of the snowmobile was absent.
While Lt Col Johnson grabbed his boots, jacket and flashlight, his wife dialled 911. He ran to the shoreline where he heard a woman screaming for him to save her husband. He called 911 again to update the emergency services with a more accurate location and the fact that there were two victims.
Running back to the house, his 35 years of Boy Scout training and leadership kicked in when Lt Col Johnson decided to take an old canoe and some rope to make a rescue attempt. Arriving once again to the shoreline, he found the rope to be too short, so he paddled out with the canoe to reach the victims. Closest to the female victim, he was in the best position to rescue her from a small, unsteady ice floe. After grabbing her and dragging her into the canoe, he—with two other local residents who came to help with the rescue attempt—brought the woman to the emergency crew who arrived few moments later.
“I lost all track of time,” explained Lt Col Johnson. “I was very glad to be able to save the lady. I wish that I could have saved the gentleman.”
He attributes the rescue to 20 years in the air force, “We work in a high stress environment all the time and are trained not to panic--just to react.”