CHARLOTTETOWN - A call of nature turned out to be a life saver for three boaters off Nova Scotia last weekend.
Ray Loxdale, 49, of St. Catherines, P.E.I., had just stopped his pleasure boat off Pugwash, N.S., on Sunday so he could relieve himself when he heard panicked cries for help.
Loxdale and his friend, Jason Smith, 20, of Shag Harbour, N.S., brought their boat alongside two people who had been floating in fear for more than four hours since their own boat was capsized by a large wave.
Darren Robinson, 22, and his girlfriend, Lacey Angevine, 20, both of Pugwash River, N.S., were hauled out of the water.
They told their rescuers that a third person - Robinson's cousin, also named Darrin Robinson - was trying to swim to shore. He was soon brought aboard as well.
Loxdale said the three persons would most likely have been left to fend for themselves had he not needed to take a bathroom break. He considers the call to nature divine intervention.
"I think I'm kind of humbled that God used us to answer those guys' prayers. And they were definitely praying a lot, I was told," he said Wednesday.
"They needed a lot of assistance. ... They were pretty fearful, and rightfully so.
"They were in shock. They were quite scared. The first signs of hypothermia was starting to set in."
Darrin Robinson, 24, of Pugwash River said he, his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend had been on the water for about 30 minutes heading to a fishing spot when a wave swamped their boat. The three were thrown in the water as the boat flipped upside down and began to sink.
All three were able to retrieve life-jackets from the water and put them on.
Angevine said she wouldn't have survived long without a life-jacket.
"It was really scary," she said. "I can't swim very well. I just thought I was going to die.
"It was just pure luck that he had to use the washroom then and there."
Three boaters rescued from Northumberland Strait after capsizing
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Published on
August 21, 2008
- Published on January 3, 2010
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