Heroes.

On October 29, 1994 YWCA Camp Director Jill Laidlaw was alerted that two local town residents, who had been boating in a raft off shore, were in trouble. The raft had overturned and a 12-year-old boy was clinging to it, attempting to steer by kicking off the back end. The boy had thrown their one and only life jacket(*) to his 13-year-old sister after she had fallen overboard trying to retrieve a paddle. The wind had overturned the raft and caused the two to drift farther and farther from each other and shore.

Jill directed the kitchen staff to call 911 and request an ambulance and assistance from the Sheriff's Department. She gathered paddles and four life jackets while staff and volunteers carried a canoe from the canoe trailer to the beach. Ed Lazar of St. Clair Shores offered to help Jill in the canoe. Ed was at YWCA Camp Cavell with his family, enjoying a family Halloween weekend. Ed was an experienced canoeist with a racing background, complementing Jill's skills background as a former life guard, Red Cross canoe instructor, and river and lake paddler. Together, after a tense start, they were able to break through the waves and get into open water. The wind and waves made the going tough. Waves were from 2- to 5-feet and the wind was 40 m.p.h. The boy appeared to be hanging on, but the girl was just a bobbing head, dipping up and down. Fearing she had no life jacket and that hypothermia would set in, the rescuers set their course for the girl.

When they came upon her, she was almost hysterical - frantic for her brother. Ed balanced the canoe while Jill sat on the bottom, gripping the child by the arms. The girl was so cold that she could not hang on by herself. With Ed counterbalancing, Jill managed to pull her over the side. While Jill tried to warm the child as best she could, Ed paddled with the waves, aiming for the crowd on shore.

When they landed ashore, several staff and weekend guests wrapped the girl in jackets and blankets and formed a human relay chain, running and passing her down the shoreline and up the hill to the waiting ambulance. The girl, who appeared to be much younger than her 13 years, later told the medics that she suffers from kidney problems.

Jill and Ed, although tired, immediately turned back into Lake Huron and were en route to the boy. He was cold, sitting on top of his raft now, and very concerned about his sister. He had a rope coiled, ready for them to tow the raft. Putting him in their canoe, Jill told him they would give it a try, even though the wind was strong and towing the raft would be no easy task. With a lot of luck, they pulled it off.

The support people quickly brought the boy, who was able to walk on his own, to the medics. The tired rescuers decided to paddle the canoe to the original launch site, although the relieved crowd would have gladly portaged the canoe and carried Jill and Ed.

Jill didn't know the children's names when I asked her. Perhaps she'll never know. The authorities whisked them away before Jill and Ed returned to the waterfront area of Camp Cavell. This was one of those situations where two people (with a canoe) truly made a difference in the lives of two youth. These heroes would never seek recognition, but they deserve it. It goes without saying that having proper skills, training, and experience played a pivotal role in this rescue.

Jill is an ACA member, fund raising chair for the Michigan Section, and camp director at YWCA Camp Cavell in Lexington, Mich. She is married and lives on site. Ed is a businessman. He is active in the Junior Counselor's program and learned canoeing at a camp in Wisconsin.

The canoes at Camp Cavell were purchased in May, 1994, as the result of fund raising by the Camp Cavell Committee, and a canoeing program is in the process of being developed there.

* Editor's note: Just a reminder ... it is federal law that one U.S. Coast Guard- approved personal flotation device (PFD) be on board the watercraft for each person on board. ACA standards require the PFDs be worn.