‘Miracle’ rescue: Six heroes help save virtual stranger by administering CPR for over two hours

This story is one that may just restore your faith in your fellow man. Vancouverite Christine ‘Tink’ Newman, 24, is now in stable condition at Vancouver General Hospital, but her road to recovery is one that doctors are calling a ‘miracle.’ Christine 'Tink' Newman (CBC)

As reported by CBC News, Christine’s story began when she was snowshoeing in Garibaldi Park near Whistler and she met a group of fellow snowshoers and skiers. Her trek had taken her longer than she anticipated and while she didn’t intend to, she was convinced by more experienced outdoorspeople to stay overnight in one of the park’s cabins. Early the next morning at 2 a.m., Newman walked outside to use the outhouse. She became disoriented and while lost, she dropped her backpack on the trail and fell into a tree well.

Five of the six rescuers who helped save Christine Newman's life. (CBC)

Newman remained there for over seven hours until, by luck, she was discovered by the adventurers she befriended at the cabin. The group had assumed that Newman set out early for the parking lot, so they continued their trek until they determined that something was off. They happened upon the backpack that Newman lost and eventually found her in the approximately 1.3 to 1.5 meters (4 feet 3 inches to 4 feet 11 inches) deep tree well, where just the top of her head could be seen.

John and Ernestine Newman (CBC)

They struggled to pull Newman out of the tree well. Once they did, they found her unconscious, hypothermic, with no vital signs. The Calgary Sun noted that the group of six, which included a Calgary Mountie, a lifeguard, and a former search and rescue worker, took turns administering CPR for two-and-a-half hours until help could arrive. When they were not giving CPR, the others packed down snow with snowshoes so that a helicopter could land on packed snow. The determined group never gave up and even used their gear to perform part of the rescue. In a recent press conference John Newman, Christine’s father told the press, "There's a pink froth that comes up near death…they had to remove that to continue the CPR so they broke apart a CamelBak package and used the tube there to try and suction out some of the material."

Ernestine Newman and Dr. Vinay Dhingra (CBC)

Eventually search and rescue teams arrived on the ground and administered CPR for another two hours before a helicopter was able to fly Christine to Vancouver General. She was given special hypothermia recovery treatment by Dr. Vinay Dhingra and is expected to make a full recovery. Ms. Newman is reportedly talking, laughing and singing from her bed in the intensive care unit.

Eric Urban (CBC)

Christine’s parents, John and Ernestine Newman, are incredibly thankful to all the rescuers. Ernestine told reporters, “All of them are so amazing and we are so grateful they saved our daughter’s life.” The truly heroic group of rescuers felt that they were just doing what they felt was right. “I see it as an unbelievable series of coincidences…Even to a rational person as myself, that was really, really, really amazing,” said Eric Urban, one of the rescuers. “We’re just happy that she’s doing well.” 

Videos and more info: CBC News, The Calgary Sun

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Man swims across Detroit River, prompts rescue

DETROIT (AP) — A man who wanted to prove he could swim across the Detroit River from Canada to the U.S. after a night of drinking ended up prompting an international rescue operation.

John Morillo told The Windsor Star that Monday night's swim from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, was "really stupid" and said in retrospect he shouldn't have done it. He was cited for being intoxicated in a public place and released from jail Tuesday.

"I was drinking, but I wasn't really drunk," Morillo, 47, of Windsor, said Tuesday. "The thing is, I've been telling people I'm going to swim across the river for years and they're like 'yah, yah, blah, blah, you can't make it.' So, I don't know, last night I just decided it was the time to go."

Morillo said he regrets causing problems for authorities, including Windsor police and Coast Guard crews from the U.S. and Canada. Three boats and a helicopter responded, The Detroit News reported, and authorities warn the river's current makes a dangerous place to swim.

"As soon I saw the helicopters going by and the boats looking for me, I was like 'oh, this is really stupid,'" Morillo told The Windsor Star.

Police in Windsor initially responded around 11:30 p.m., when a neighbor of Morillo called to say she had lost sight of him about a half-hour earlier.

Morillo made it across to Detroit, getting out of the water near downtown's Renaissance Center, and was swimming back when he was found about 12:50 a.m. Tuesday by the U.S. Coast Guard. During his stop on the Detroit side of the river he said people wanted to take his picture.

"There was one woman, she said she was from Windsor and she thought I was crazy," he said. She was right."

Morillo said he was told that he'll also likely be fined for swimming in a shipping channel, which could be $5,000 to $25,000.

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Firefighters rescue cop rescuing a cat

Cat in tree (Thinkstock)

Firefighters in New York City received an usual request: Rescue a cop stuck in a tree who'd been trying to rescue a cat.

According to a hilarious account in the New York Post, New York’s finest spent about 30 minutes to right a rescue gone embarrassingly wrong.

First, the New York Police Department responded to 911 phone calls from local residents in Queens who noticed a feline high up in a tree across from Public School 213, which was letting out.

Veteran Police Officer Dane Natto and his partner arrived on the scene, and Natto tackled the tree, climbing up to get the cat. But the cat saw the cop coming and climbed higher, as did Natto. Finally, the officer admitted defeat. He then realized that he, too, was stuck in the tree—some 30 feet off the ground.

A growing audience, including elementary schoolkids from PS 213, watched the fiasco unfold.

“We looked out the window, and we saw the cop inside the tree—sitting,” Luna Giuong told the Post. “[His] partner was laughing at him."

He stopped laughing long enough to call the New York Fire Department, which, writes the Post, “couldn’t believe what they were hearing.”

When the NYFD arrived, “they didn’t go straight to helping him,” Giuong recalled. “They all gathered around and laughed at him. They took their time."

Finally, using a ladder to climb the tree (the right way to rescue a cat, by the way), firefighters got the feline. Then Natto used the ladder to climb down. His descent was greeted with applause from the crowd.

The rescue took about 30 minutes, but, unfortunately for Natto, that cat tale will probably last a lifetime.

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