Officer and dog save woman from Nechako River

Local RCMP personnel rescued a woman being swept away in the Nechako River this morning.

Around 10:30 AM, the Prince George RCMP received a report from a concerned citizen regarding a woman who had gone into the Nechako River near the Cameron Street Bridge. Two off duty 9-1-1 operators, who happened to be walking along the Heritage River Trail, called the RCMP and provided updates as to where the woman was in the river.

Police arrived on scene within a few minutes of receiving the call and began setting up officers and other emergency services along the river.

With the help of a boat operator, two officers began searching the water. The woman was found floating within 700 metres of the bridge shortly after the search began.

Prince George General Duty officer Cst. Cole Ebling and an off-duty officer’s personal dog jumped in the water. The dog pulled the woman towards Cst. Ebling, who grabbed her and brought her to shore.

The woman was taken to hospital for treatment and is expected to survive.

“Cst. Ebeling’s actions and bravery exemplify the efforts and sacrifices our police officers and employees make each and every day here in Prince George” says Supt. Warren Brown, the officer in charge of the Prince George RCMP. “Because of Cst. Ebeling’s commitment to public safety, he sacrificed his own safety to save the life of a person who would have drowned. I simply cannot ask more of an effort than that.”