Woman credited with saving friends' lives after icy plunge while snowmobiling

by Rob Learn

Mar 05, 2008

RESTOULE – It’s a moment that every snowmobiler dreads.

Struggling in freezing water, clinging to the edge of the ice in the pitch-black.

But on Friday, Feb. 29, when Debbie and Jim Martin found themselves doing just that they knew they were better off than most – they had someone going for help.

The Port Loring couple was returning home by snowmobile from dinner in Restoule. They suddenly plunged through thin ice at the mouth of the Restoule River where it enters the lake by the same name.

“We were with a couple we owe our lives to,” says Debbie, who spent 20 mintues in the water with her husband Jim.

Traveling with Elaine and Al Dare, the couples were attempting to go back across Lake Restoule the way they had come to the village. They became disoriented in a snowstorm and unknowingly made a loop, ultimately, back to the river.

“We know it is the most dangerous spot on the lake. We’ve snowmobiled there for years, but somehow that’s where we ended up,” says Debbie.

Fortunately, the Dares were following far enough back that they were able to see the Martins go in and avoided the same fate.

Elaine almost immediately left the scene for help, heading for the lights of a cottage. A 911 call was sent out and she was given a rope for the rescue from the cottage owners Ivan and Edna Hubbert.

Al, says Debbie, stayed for a bit longer, but soon realized he wasn’t able to do much good without any equipment and being unable to reach the Martins.

Meanwhile Debbie and Jim carried on doing what they needed to do to keep their heads literally above water.

“When you go in you start swimming. You start breaking ice and you do get tired. We did manage to get to a spot where we could hold on and wait for help,” says Debbie.

Asked what she and her husband talked about during their cold, dark, wet wait, Debbie says, “Just to keep on. Just keep kicking. We had to keep kicking because when we stopped there seemed to be something there that wanted to pull us under the ice. At least we knew somebody was out there getting help.”

The Martins were wearing full leather snowmobile suits and even had their helmets on until they were rescued.

The first person back to the scene was Elaine who, by herself, had to make many throws of the rope she’d obtained before successfully getting it to one of the Martins. Then, again by herself, she pulled each of them from the icy lake.

“I think the hero of the whole story is Elaine Dare,” said fire captain Scott Westall of the Restoule Volunteer Fire Department. “She deserves a lot of credit. She’s the one who got the rope, got the 911 call going and actually pulled them from the water.”

Westall was on the shore of the lake getting ready to go for a rescue attempt when he met Elaine with Jim on her snowmachine bringing him to shore.

Debbie was walking to shore. She was met by another snowmobile and brought to Westall’s business, Mill Bay Marine, were they got out of their wet gear and warmed up in the apartment above the business rented by Fred Page.

Both of the Martins are doing well after spending about 20 minutes in the frozen waters of Restoule Lake.

Debbie credits the fact that they were only traveling at about 20 km/hr when they broke through the ice as one of the reasons they escaped unharmed. But she isn’t shy with praise for her friend of more than 20 years, Elaine.

She’s just not sure how to express it yet.

“What do you say to someone for saving your life?” asks Debbie.

Debbie starts off with thanks.

She agreed to the interview with the Almaguin News on the condition that it publish a thank you to the Dares, Westall, Page, Suzie and Hal Hamilton for getting them dry clothes, the Hubberts for the rope and the call to 911, and the Restoule Volunteer Fire Department.

“Everyone was so wonderful to us,” said Debbie.

The snowmachines, a 2007 Polaris 800 IQ and a 2008 Yamaha four stroke machine, were pulled from the water over the weekend by Bartlett’s Towing. Debbie says they were in about 22 feet of water.

Both Westall, who operates the marina in front of where the Martins went in and the Martins themselves, say the experience shows how quick someone can get into trouble on a lake.

“They’re pretty experienced people,” said Westall. “They just got turned around in the snow which can happen to anyone.”

As for whether Debbie and Jim will be taking off on their snowmobiles anytime soon, Debbie isn’t certain. “I’m not making any decisions like that right now.”