Mike Waller admits to being “conflicted” about the Commissioner’s Citation for Lifesaving he received at an OPP Central Region awards ceremony Oct. 26.
Waller, who is the president of the Haliburton Legion, shares that the woman he tried to save May 12, 2022 did not make it. She took her own life. Although she was from out-of-County, he feels for her family as well as the people for whom she was staying with when the tragic incident occurred.
However, OPP felt his knowledge, and use of First Aid, attempting to save a life in Dysart et al was deserving of being honoured. Waller and another local, Doug Austin, were recognized during the awards ceremony in Orillia.
Waller recalls that when the ice went out on Loon Lake that day, the water was rough and cold.
“I was sitting in my sunroom and I noticed a person out on the lake, which was strange because of the weather.
He said the person was standing up in a paddleboat and, it appeared, was trying to fill it with water.
His wife, Cheryl came in and asked, “what’s that person doing out on the lake? and I said ‘I think she’s trying to commit suicide’.”
Cheryl said, “you have to go out and help her and I said ‘I’m not going out.”
However, he went down to the shoreline and got into his boat with a blanket that Cheryl had given him. She worked at Whitby Mental Health Centre for 41 years (now called Ontario Shores for Mental Health Sciences), which is why Mike had an idea of what might be going on.
“I went out, got to her, was talking to her for quite a bit. I was able to talk her into my boat. I tied a rope to the paddle boat to pull it with us.”
They began boating towards where the woman was staying. He said the woman stood up once and he told her to sit down because he didn’t want the boat to tip in the two-foot waves. She sat back down.
“Then all of a sudden, she stood up and said ‘I want to die’ and she dove in the water.” Waller untied the paddle boat and went over to try to throw her the rope a few times but she wouldn’t grab it.
Waller went to Austin’s dock, and asked him to get in the boat because he needed help.
By the time they got back out in the water, the woman was facedown. They pulled her into the boat and Waller started CPR. Meanwhile, Austin’s wife called 911.
They went to Austin’s dock with the woman and continued CPR while waiting for EMS. However, the woman passed away.
Austin said when Waller called out to him, “you don’t give it a second thought.” However, “it was a sad, sad, day.”
Waller said he takes some solace in the fact the body was recovered, and not lost on the lake. In that way, there would have been some closure for the family and friends. He added it puts a spotlight on mental health issues.
The fact he went from an initial instinct of not going out, to doing what he did, “that’s what you should do, right?” Waller says.
“But I do feel conflicted because it wasn’t a Hollywood ending.”
Waller added being honoured for what they did hasn’t phased him much. “I’d have been more satisfied if she had survived. That’s where it’s sad. I’ll always think about it now when I’m out there.”
