WORTHY OF A NATIONAL MEDAL Family of seven rescued as boat sinks off Chaguaramas By \\\\\ Alexander Bruzual Story Created: Jul 3, 2014 at 8:46 PM ECT Story Updated: Jul 3, 2014 at 8:46 PM ECT AN off-duty coast guardsman risked his life to save a family of seven on Tuesday afternoon when their boat got into difficulty and began sinking in the waters off Chaguaramas. According to police reports and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard’s public relations officer, Lt Commander Kirk-Jean Baptiste, at about 4.30 p.m., Sub-Lieutenant Edric Hargreaves, a diving officer in the Coast Guard, had just left Coast Guard Headquarters at Staubles Bay and was in a vehicle proceeding east along Western Main Road, when, upon reaching the vicinity of King’s Bay, which is close to Staubles, he observed a vessel which was sinking. Hargreaves stopped his vehicle and realised that the vessel was a Boston Whaler, which was encountering difficulties. Without hesitation, the sub-lieutenant got into the water and swam towards the vessel, where he encountered seven persons, all wearing life jackets. They were six-year-old Aaliyah Sankar Singh; Keston Sankar Singh, 13; Tristan Sankar Singh, 15; Sebastian Sankar Singh, 13; Onesha Grant, 21; Cheryl Sankar Singh, 43; and Allan Sankar Singh, 40. Hargreaves rescued six-year-old Aaliyah first and brought her to shore. He went back into the water and guided the six remaining persons to the safety of the shore line. During this time, a call was made to Coast Guard Headquarters and a medic and another diving officer were sent to the scene. Coast Guard officials said the area where the boat sank had a strong current and, though the family had their life jackets on, they could have easily been adrift in the water and experienced greater difficulty. The family had been returning from a trip “Down the Islands”. Speaking to the Express yesterday, Lt Commander Baptiste commended the actions of Sub-Lieutenant Hargreaves. “The sub-lieutenant was doing what he was trained to do, and his quick response shows that he was well trained and clearly ready and able to assist the seven souls he encountered in the waters. When officers do a good job they must be praised for their actions, and the sub-lieutenant is no exception and he must be commended. “Too often in this country, we are always quick to condemn someone, so it is good to know that we can commend someone instead for their actions,” Baptiste said. The Lt Commander also commended the family members for wearing their life jackets, as that action contributed to a total success, in that there was no loss of life. “At the Coast Guard we always stress that whenever someone goes out to sea they should always do so while wearing a life jacket, because you never know what can happen. So I must commend the family themselves for wearing their life jackets while on their trip back, as this, combined with the actions of Sub-Lieutenant Hargreaves, resulted in zero loss of life that evening,” Baptiste said. Speaking to the Express briefly in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon, a male relative explained that the family was very grateful for the actions of Hargreaves, and they wanted to publicly thank him for all that he did. “While I wasn’t on the boat itself yesterday (Tuesday), I know that we are all very thankful for the actions of the coastguardsman and for what he did in saving my family’s lives. There are not many people who would realise what was going on, and then come out and risk their own life like that the way he did, and we are all very grateful for what he did for my family and I hope he knows it,” said the relative.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 10:26:04 +0000
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