Calabogie – Two men from the Calabogie area have been recommended for citations for bravery by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for their role in helping save the life of a dump truck driver whose rig overturned in a marsh on Barryvale Road last Tuesday morning.

Devin Campbell and his friend, Gord Gaddess, jumped into the ice-cold waters to rescue the operator of a truck that had left the road, crashed through a guard rail, went down an embankment, and flipped onto its side in the marsh.

Mr. Campbell and his father, Peter, were travelling from Renfrew to Calabogie at about 10:30 when they rounded a curve and came upon the accident scene.

“We were driving back from Renfrew and there’s one kind of hairpin turn,” he explained. “There’s a big guard rail where the turn is because it’s pretty bad in the winter time and I could see tire marks going off the road and through the guard rail that was in pieces.

“We pulled the car over and got out, and we could see this big dump truck in the swamp and the wheels were still spinning,” he continued. “So obviously, it was pretty fresh.”

Mr. Campbell got his father to call 911 and then he phoned his wife Robyn (Summers) to ask her to bring some gloves and a rope because he was unsure just how deep the water in the marsh was.  

As this was happening, a friend, Gord Gaddess, was driving by on his way to the airport in Ottawa, and he stopped to help.

“He was actually the first one that found a way to get onto the back side of the truck,” Mr. Campbell said. “I followed him and from there, we were able to find where the passenger’s side door was.”

He said they opened the door, unsure of whether they would find someone inside or not.

“We thought maybe the driver got out. There was a lot of water there, and we were hoping it wasn’t the worst.  

“We opened the door and saw the driver,” he added. “There was water flowing into the cab and he just had his head and his hands out. He was neck deep in water.” 

He said the driver was secured in his seat by two seat belts and he couldn’t reach anything.

“So we got the one over his shoulder off of him and that helped him to move his arms and get out of the water a little more because the cab was filling with water. The thing that was scary was, the other belt was by his hip and just the way the vehicle went in, it was really deep in the water.

“Gord and I tried to get in there and find where the clip was, but it was tough,” he added. “You’d go in the water feeling around with your hands, and after two or three minutes, then we’d switch off.”

He said it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so they decided to try and cut the belt using a knife they borrowed from someone on shore.

“It was a contractor who was driving by and he had a box cutter. We used the box cutter to cut part of the belt, and by then, the OPP and fire department had shown up.”

He said the first responders relieved Mr. Gaddess, who was wearing only light clothes, and who went back to his home to warm up. Mr. Campbell said he was wearing layers, so he stayed around while two OPP officers entered the water and attempted to cut the driver free.

“One of the firefighters who was helping out realized if we pulled the driver upwards as hard as we could, we might get some slack in the belt to make it easier to cut.

“The firefighter was able to get to the clip and undo the clip around his waist, and we got him free,” he added.

He said he and Mr. Gaddess were in and out of the water for the first 20 minutes and then he let the OPP officers and firefighters take over when they arrived.

“I was still on the truck and kind of an extra hand if they needed it,” he stated. “It was a hard thing; there was no simple solution.

“He was so water-logged and he couldn’t move his extremities,” he added. “It was a full-team effort.”

Mr. Campbell said the driver reached out to them through Facebook on a couple of occasions, initially to say thank you, and then later to say his condition was improving and that he was starting to get some feeling back in his hands and feet.

“Other than a few bumps and bruises, he should be all right,” he stated.

He said the water was filled with oil leaking from the truck and it made everything very difficult to see because it was completely black.    
He said had they been able to dive underwater briefly, they could possibly have gotten the belt opened, but because of the oil, they could not.

He said he received a call from police last Thursday and was informed he and Mr. Gaddess had been recommended for the citation for bravery. 

He said when he looks back and realizes the driver was in the water for perhaps 45 minutes to an hour, he is very happy the incident turned out the way it did.

Mr. Campbell is a member of the MV Wolves team in the Eastern Ontario Super Hockey League and his wife, Robyn, is a daughter of team owner and head coach, Mike Summers and his wife, Christine (Kutchkoske) of Golden Lake.

When the story was first reported in the Leader last week, the heroic efforts of Mr. Campbell and Mr. Gaddess were not reported as the investigation had just gotten underway.

The two police officers – Constables Marc Bennett and James Hogan of the Renfrew detachment of the OPP, and Greater Madawaska firefighter Anthony Wimbauer – have also been recommended for a Chief’s commendation and Medal of Bravery from the OPP.