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VOL. 39 • No. 2
MANOTICK, ONTARIO
www.manotickmessenger.ca
Friday January 28, 2022
What the hell was she thinking? Woman races down Rideau, takes selfies from roof of sinking car before being rescued By Charlie Senack Manotick Messenger It was a busy evening on the water in Manotick on Jan. 16 after a yellow Subaru drove into the Rideau River. A backyard video camera showed the yellow car racing down the ice in the middle of the river near Old Mill Way at around 4:30 p.m. Sunday night. The car was travelling at high speed, and children were playing hockey on a patch of ice near the shoreline. The video was posted by Manotick resident Sacha Gera, who was stunned as he watched the incident unfold. “My kids were playing hockey on the rink on the shore line and my son was playing hockey and saw the car coming down,” he told the Manotick
Messenger. “Our initial reaction was just shock. You don’t expect to have to worry about things like that on the river in the winter.” Another video reviewed by the Manotick Messenger showed the car speeding by a group of snowmobilers on the ice. Shortly after, it started to sink in a weak spot. Video taken from the shoreline then showed a lone woman standing on the trunk of the car as it sank, before being pulled to safety by a blue kayak and rope, which was thrown into the freezing water by a neighbour. Nearby residents on the shoreline could be heard saying “she is going in.” A photo shared on social media showed the woman taking selfies as she stood on her sinking car. According to those who
THANK YOU, CARLETON!
were on the scene, the woman, who has not been identified publicly, said she was “just having fun” and would “totally do it again.” Gera says it’s her attitude towards the situation which aggravates him the most. “It has been one of those years where there was not a lot of snow until just a couple of days ago, so the ice is very thick. Our width in terms of where we are on the river is maybe 250 to 300 feet across and the car came racing down the middle,” he said. “It could have easily skidded out of control and hit anybody who was out ice fishing or playing hockey — including my kids. Its reckless behaviour. Thank goodness nobody got hurt.”
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I won't stop fighting for you.
A woman who has not been identified by police takes selfies moments before Manotick residents risked their lives to save her. She drove down the frozen Rideau River at speeds estimated at 70 km per hour before hitting thin ice and sinking. Lynda Douglas photo
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