Missing Boater’s Body Recovered
Monday, August 26, 2013 @ 9:12 AM
Priince George, B.C.- The body of missing boater, Brett Smith, has been recovered from Takysie Lake.
Terrace Search and Rescue were assisting Burns Lake RCMP on the weekend when the discovery was made.
Smith was reported missing on August 8th when he failed to keep regular contact with family members. A search of the lake found an abandoned boar and some of Smith’s personal belongings, but there was no sign of the 36 year old.
An extensive search was launched, but , after 5 days of searching by land, air and water, the search was called off.
Smith’s death has been determined non criminal and turned over to the British Columbia Coroners Service.
Comments
my deepest condolences to the family
It might be time to change the law to say that boaters must wear a life jacket when on the water and not just have one available for each person on board.
There would be some initial grumbling as was the case when mandatory seat belt use was enacted but I’m sure many lives could be saved in the long run.
lonesome sparrow
Typical canuck response. Life jackets do save lives, seat belts can save lives and injury. Every adult knows the consequences of going into cold water with out a life jacket, they choose to wear a PFD or not is their choice, the last thing we need is more restrictions (laws) on the living. Education is the key, not more restrictions.
Agreed Lonesome Sparrow..
Not that im in favor for more “law” but its getting to the point where people are blatently ingoring all safety percautions and rules and perhaps its time to take enforcement to the next level. I think anyone who is involved in search rescue and recovery would agree.
Not to sound insensitive or anyting but if there was a ticketable or administrative penalty for not wearing a PFD there is a good chance we wouldnt be reading this today.
Do we need to legislate common sense? When does it end?
If every adult knows the consequences and still chooses not to wear a PFD then it is clear that education is not the key and does not work.
Would seat belt usage decline if the law was rescinded? Of course. A potential hit to the pocketbook helps re-enforce the fact that it is in their own best interest to wear it. The law would not be worth the paper it was written on if it said that a seat belt must be available for each person in the vehicle.
In addition to the cost of rescue and recovery efforts other people are taking risks to find the missing person. Vast majority avoided if they were wearing a life jacket.
What amazes me seeing river boats on the local rivers and no wearing life jackets. I have seen kids with life jackets on but not the adults. Considering the dynamics of a river that is insane.
Posted by: lonesome sparrow on August 26 2013 11:14 AM
If every adult knows the consequences and still chooses not to wear a PFD then it is clear that education is not the key and does not work.
It then becomes an informed choice. If the public worries about the expense of search ,rescue and recovery then charge the person or the persons estate. as far as rescuer’s being at risk I guess if nobody moves nobody will get hurt. Anyway life is an inherent risk, the gov’t can not mitigate that.
I cannot read in the report how he died.
Why do people assume that a life jacket would have saved his life?
My comments were not specific to this case but more to how stupid the law as it currently stands is. The chances of surviving are dramatically reduced if the PFD is tucked under a seat when a person goes overboard.
“Anyway life is an inherent risk, the gov’t can not mitigate that.” I wonder how many lives the seat belt law has saved.
Given the low temperatures in many of our northern lakes and rivers, hypothermia related deaths will rise if a life jacket law makes wearing one mandatory.
A life jacket law would make body recovery easier though. I my opinion dead is dead whether it be from drowning or hypothermia.
To be a bit more specific, if I may, the report tells me that the death is non criminal, but it does not say that it is accidental.
I’d have no issue with a law requiring the wearing of a PFD while onboard a boat or watercraft.
With the advent of technology and new designs, there is virtually no reason to not wear one other than “I don’t want to”. That reasoning isn’t accepted for seat belts, stopping at red lights or wearing a helmet when driving a motorcycle, so I see no reason why it couldn’t apply to this situation.
Yes I suppose the number of hypothermia related deaths could go up, but the number of lives saved would be far larger, especially if you took a national approach to the law (which I suspect it would have to be).
This would improve safety a heck of allot more than requiring grandpa to get his boaters license card in order to put his 12 footer around McKenzie lake with his 9.9.
“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.” H.L.Mencken
“Darwin will eventually weed out those who do not take even the simplest steps towards self preservation.” L.S.Sparrow
NMG
I agree that the number of lives saved would increase even of some people died of hypothermia. A person stands a lot better chance if keeping their head above water is not the sole focus, they can then try to get back in the boat, on to some flotsam and jetsam or even get on their back and try to make it to shore.
Core temperature will drop a lot quicker in someone treading water than one who can keep arms and legs close to the body while being kept afloat by a PFD.
“Darwin will eventually weed out those who do not take even the simplest steps towards self preservation.” L.S.Sparrow
Agreed, but who are we to interfer with that evolutionary process?
It sure is easy to comment, that is forever etched in the digital world. Don’t you guys think that there is a face to this person. There is wife and kids that are left behind, that may also be reading this blog site.
Shame on you all.
Given the number of deaths per year it is simply a matter of time until the laws are changed like was done with seat belts, child car seats and bicycle helmets.
One of the roles of government is to protect the addle minded 0.0
While I don’t personally believe the discussion about lifejackets (PDFs) is out of line, I do think the “Darwin” comments lacks a certain sensitivity given the tragic circumstance of this news story.
“Darwin will eventually weed out those who do not take even the simplest steps towards self preservation.” L.S.Sparrow
An interesting quote. The question I have is why is it taking him so long?
Tend to agree with HeSpoke on this one
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