When Saskatoon runner Brad Pilon heard the cries for help and saw a boy’s head bobbing in the South Saskatchewan River he stopped thinking and just acted.
He ran off the Meewasin trail, scrambled down the embankment and dove into the water. He was able to grab the youngster and swim them both back to safety.
“It all happened pretty quick,” Pilon recalls. “There was no emotion. I just really wanted to get this little guy back to shore. A lot of people ask me the temperature of the water and it really didn’t even dawn on me. I can honestly say I didn’t even notice.”
The rescue happened Saturday afternoon when Brad and his wife, Ashley Pilon, were nearly two thirds of the way through the David Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge which involves participants running four miles (6.4 kilometres) every four hours for 48 hours to log 48 miles (77.2 kilometres).
The pair had booked into a downtown hotel for the weekend and were starting and ending each leg of the challenge at the Vimy Memorial in Kiwanis Park. Brad and Ashley were cruising north along the Meewasin trail between the Victoria Boat House and the outdoor fitness circuit at River Landing around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when they realized someone was in trouble. Two boys had been playing by the water and one had fallen in. Both were crying for help.
Ashley says she and Brad often listen to music when they run, but opted not to during the challenge because so many friends were coming by to support them.
“If Brad was wearing headphones, he would have never heard those cries,” she says.
Brad, who did some swim training before competing in a triathlon in 2017, describes himself as a “pretty confident” swimmer. He says the boy was about six or eight meters from shore where the water was deep, but not moving too quickly.
After he got them both to shore, Ashley and some of the couple’s friends wrapped the boy in dry clothing and a bystander called 911. Brad and Ashley, seeing that the boy was in good hands, ran the final kilometre left in the Goggins Challenge leg to their hotel and Brad got straight into a hot shower.
He later heard from a spokesperson with Medavie Health Services West that the boy, age 8, is doing well. He was also told he would be receiving an award at the service’s annual Badge, Shield and Star event this fall.
“A tragic situation was avoided due to Brad’s actions; there is no doubt that Brad saved this young boy’s life,” said Medavie spokesperson Troy Davies in a media release.
With the excitement behind them, Brad and Ashley went on to complete the Goggins Challenge. They logged their last four-mile leg in the wee hours of Sunday morning, just as the wind picked up and it started to snow.
Watch video of the rescue on Ashley’s Facebook page.
Do you know someone in Saskatchewan with an inspiring running story? Email Brainsport Times editor Andrea Hill at andrea@brainsport.ca.
