Quick action by Nelson's Mike Henderson saves life of Burnaby man
By Bruce Fuhr
A few weeks ago Mike Henderson didn’t put much stock into a conversation he had with a friend regarding the chapter he learned during his Industrial Level III First Aid Course on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
However, that bit of information he received from his bud may have saved the life of the 39-year-old Burnaby man after Henderson used CPR to revive the driver of a car who was submerged in water following an accident on the Blueberry Paulson Highway Saturday afternoon.
The 20-year-old Henderson was able to perform the life-saving technique thanks to the help of an unknown person who helped pull the man out of the vehicle that landed in the creek on its roof.
“It’s absolutely fantastic,” Grand Forks RCMP Staff Sergeant Jim Harrison told The Nelson Daily.
“Two people who didn’t even know the victim, out of the goodness of their hearts stopped and saved a life.”
The life-changing event unfolded Saturday afternoon as Henderson was travelling east on Highway 3 east of Christina Lake.
The 20-year-old L.V. Rogers graduate had just completed first year studies at Okanagan College in Kelowna and was heading home to Nelson when he saw a vehicle driving west lose control before careening down the bank.
Henderson immediately turned around to see if everything was all right.
But it was not okay by any stretch of the imagination.
The vehicle rolled down the 20-foot embankment and landed upside down in the icy and swelled waters of a creek.
The driver was unconscious, trapped inside the vehicle.
“I ran down the bank and tried to get the door open but I couldn’t,” Henderson explained.
“By that time another guy showed up and we both went to the other door and got it open.”
With the door open, the other gentleman took out a knife and cut the seatbelt so the two could pull the man out of the vehicle before hoisting him up onto the top of the overturned car.
“He was under the water for at least five minutes so I knew there’s no way he could be breathing,” Henderson said.
That’s when Henderson remembered the conversation he had with his friend.
“My buddy had just finished his Level III First and told me a few general things about CPR like check for a pulse, then tilt the head back,” Henderson said.
“I performed mouth to mouth and the man started breathing,” Henderson added. “I then put him on his side and he started coughing up water.”
The Christina Lake Fire Rescue team along with BC Ambulance arrived shortly after to begin the process of bringing the man up the embankment to the awaiting ambulance for transportation to Grand Forks Hospital.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Harrison said the man was kept overnight for observation and then later released.
“There definitely was a certain amount of danger related to this rescue,” said Staff Sargent Harrison when asked about the daring rescue.
“Anytime you get a vehicle up-side-down in chest deep water . . . that’s very cold water so certainly some peril to the rescuers there.”
“We’re going to be looking further into the matter obviously making some recommendations for recognition in the matter to the individuals involved,” Staff Sargent Harrison added.
“Both of them made a supreme effort to save this man’s life and were very successful.”
Ironically, the man assisting Henderson left the scene before RCMP could thank him.
So Harrison is asking for that man to contact police.
As for Mike Henderson, he also wants to thank his rescue partner for helping.
“There’s nothing really I could have done unless he came along,” Henderson said whose clothes were soaked after spending a fair bit of time in the rushing water.
“If he hadn’t come along I wouldn’t have been able to get the door open and if he hadn’t had a knife we wouldn’t have been able to cut the seatbelt . . ..”
But what if Mike Henderson didn’t think to learn a bit about CPR?
Well let’s not go down that road because this story is one with a happy ending thanks to the quick work of a pair of quick-acting heroes.
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