Fredericton woman goes to Saint John for a trail race and leaves a hero
Nicole Kerr went to Rockwood Park last Saturday expecting a sunny morning of trail running.
Before she knew it, she was jumping into Fisher Lakes to save a boy from drowning. Grateful for learning to swim early, she hopes the experience will have people thinking about water safety.
"The next day my main goal was just to share the story so that we can tell others about water safety," she said.
"Things happen and accidents happen, but we need to be prepared for some of these things, especially around water."
Kerr, speaking with Information Morning Saint John on Friday, described the sequence of events as a fast-paced blur.
"I do remember someone just being like, 'Hey, is anyone a good swimmer?' and I said I could swim and I just took off my sweater and my socks and I just jumped in instinctively without a thought," she said.
Nicole Kerr travelled to Rockwood Park in Saint John last Saturday to take part in the annual Rompin’ Rockwood trail race and ended finding herself jumping in a lake to save a person from drowning. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
It was noon at the end of the Rompin' Rockwood trail race, an annual running event that started early that morning, when that "someone" called out.
Kerr, 31, has been swimming since childhood and also received lifeguard training at a young age. While she never pursued being a lifeguard in her life, she found herself relying on what she learned years ago.
"I could just see him kind of bobbing up and down against the water, gasping for air, knowing that I needed to get there as fast as I could and act," Kerr said.
"On the way there, I was trying to remember everything that I was taught a long time ago and just trying to communicate my thoughts to him."
Kerr, who had also just finished a race, said she could feel exhaustion setting in as she was helping the person to shore. A boat met her part of the way and helped them back, where first responders took over. She said the individual's family was contacted.
"As soon as I got him into the recovery zone, I stepped back because I was ready to faint because I was so exhausted," she said.
"But he stayed conscious the whole time and was able to get to the hospital. The ambulance came and brought him back and I don't know if he was talking by the end."
A community effort
Mark McColgan, one of the directors of the event, said he feels grateful that Kerr was there, saying things could have gone very differently without people ready to jump in and help. He says many people who were in the area stepped up as well.
"There were also some runners that were finishing the race that had all their clothes off ready to go," McColgan said.
"They were literally about 100 metres from the finish and they saw it happening. So they kind of jumped into action and waited to make sure that the kid got in and then they finished the race."
Race director Mark McColgan is grateful that Kerr and others stepped up to save the person in need. (Submitted by Mark McColgan)
McColgan said races are very much community events and hopes the experience encourages others to take action when they see someone in need.
"That boy could have been in a lot of trouble if people didn't just act on instinct and go for it," he said.
Kerr said she was simply at the right place at the right time and notes that another person also jumped in to help her rescue the individual.
Kerr and McColgan did not end up getting the person's name and the individual was not identified by police.
