When a two-seater convertible careened off Ballam Road and plunged into the Fraser River, a Chilliwack doctor was in the right place at the right time.
Dr. Ralph Jones was returning to Island 22 on Friday, Oct. 3 after sturgeon fishing with two friends – a retired surgeon and retired dentist – visiting from the UK. They were aboard the boat of Bryce Welti, owner of River Therapy Fishing Co., when they heard a loud splash, thinking it was a big sturgeon breaching.
The four quickly realized it was a car that hit the water, so Welti drove the boat closer.
The 2001 green Audi sedan hit a hydro pole before entering the river, according to Chilliwack RCMP.
“It was completely submerged,” Jones said. “Then we saw a man in the water who dragged the first victim out of the car.”
Jones didn’t know that Good Samaritan’s name at the time, but he was later identified as Adam Christianson, a 54-year-old Chilliwack man who’s a very strong swimmer.
Christianson had been driving behind the Audi, with friend Chelsie McMunn, when it went off the 15-foot-high embankment covered in blackberry bushes and rocks.
His first thought was “How am I going to get to these people?”
Christianson drove further down the road to a nearby sandbar, got out of his vehicle and ran back up to the convertible, which landed on its wheels but was completely underwater.
McMunn was up on the road and on the phone with 911 dispatch as she helped guide Christianson to the car. There was oil, gas, and transmission fluid floating on the water as bubbles rose to the surface.
The river was cold and he was a little scared, but Christianson could see the top of their heads.
“I dove in and followed his seat-belt down and unclicked him,” he said.
Christianson held the man in his arms for about a minute and tried to perform CPR while holding him in the water.
He could see the boat was coming closer. There was no time to take the victim to shore. Christianson knew there was still another person trapped underwater – a woman.
Christianson dragged the man to the boat where all four onboard helped pull the victim in.
He had a pulse, but was not breathing.
Jones, a previously trained anesthetist, opened and secured the man’s airway and gave him successful mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
