Winnipeg Woman Rescues Father and Child from Red River Drowning

A child was drowning in the Red River near St. John’s Park in Winnipeg on Aug. 24 when the child’s father jumped in after them and also got into distress.

Then a Winnipeg woman, Jaclyn Morrissette, went into the water too. Police later credited her with saving both lives.

A rescue in the Red River

Morrissette told CTV News she had seen “a little girl flailing in the water” before the child’s father entered the river.

“I got down to the edge when the father had jumped in, and it took about 10 seconds before I realized he was not coming back up,” she said in source reporting.

The father had gone in to rescue his child, but he also began struggling. Morrissette jumped in to help them both.

She pulled the father to shore first. Then, without stopping, she immediately swam back out to reach the child.

The child was unconscious

When Morrissette reached the child, the child was unconscious. Winnipeg police said she swam back toward shore with the child on her chest while performing life-saving measures.

“As she swam backwards to the shoreline with the unconscious child on her chest, she began performing life-saving measures and continued those efforts upon reaching shore,” police said in source reporting.

Morrissette described the same desperate effort to CTV News: “When I was swimming, I was also pumping her stomach to try and get any water that was in, out, just to help make it easier so that when I got to shore they could start CPR.”

CPR and emergency first aid continued once they reached land. Police took over care after arriving at the scene.

Police credit her courage

The child was taken to hospital and later stabilized. Police said the child is expected to make a full recovery.

For Morrissette, hearing that news was overwhelming.

“When I heard that, my heart skipped a beat and I started crying,” she told CTV News. “I was so relieved because that was the main purpose of me going in the water.”

Winnipeg police praised Morrissette’s actions, saying she showed “remarkable courage and selflessness” and acted with little regard for her own safety.

Const. Claude Chancy told CTV News the outcome could have been very different without her intervention.

“It’s selfless and courageous at the same time,” Chancy said. “The fact that she entered the water, saved one person, went back in without regard for her own life, that is truly heroic.”

‘I don’t feel like a hero’

Morrissette has pushed back on the word hero.

“I’m just a mom. I don’t feel like a hero,” she said in source reporting.

She said she was simply trying to do the right thing in a moment when there was no time to hesitate.

“I fully don’t comprehend what I did,” Morrissette told CTV News. “I just knew I had to do the right thing, and I knew we didn’t have time.”

Police credited her with saving both the child and the father. Morrissette’s own message was simpler.

“Be safe,” she said in source reporting. “Watch your kids at all times. It only takes a second.”

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