Paddle boarder saves drowning dog from icy waters of Kananaskis River

Jessica Lee,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A stand-up paddle boarding competition on the Kananaskis River over the weekend took an unexpected turn for one competitor who leapt into action to save a drowning dog from the river’s raging, icy waters.

The dramatic rescue effort by Jackie Stefaniuk on Sunday (Aug. 11) was captured on camera by onlookers, including Stefaniuk’s husband Bill.

She had just finished competing in a downriver race at KanFest – an annual whitewater festival on the Kananaskis River – and was paddling laps on a big elbow drop section of the river known as cartwheel corner.

“I was standing on shore getting ready to do another lap and this woman came over to me and she says ‘excuse me, I don’t know what your skill level is, but there’s a dog stuck in an eddy across the river and he’s gonna drown. Do you think you can help?’”

Stefaniuk, who is from Cochrane and an experienced paddler and swiftwater rescue technician, did not hesitate to heed the call.

“She pointed to the dog and I could see him in the eddy. I did a little thinking before I jumped in the water to assess the situation. I jumped into the water and then I went into rescue mode, and so I got onto my board on my knees.”

The eddy was familiar to Stefaniuk and she navigated the current with great effort to paddle into it, but it did not change the fact the dog, struggling to claw its way out of the river onto a sheer rock face, still wanted nothing to do with her.

“He was desperate. He was desperately trying to get out of the water and trying to scale the cliff, but it was a sheer, vertical face. There was no traction,” she said. “He had his two front paws out of the water and was trying to scramble, and then he’d fall back in and the current would swirl him around. He was dog paddling around with these great, big eyes.

“He was in a panicked, visceral survival mode.”

It took Stefaniuk a few attempts, but eventually she got hold of the medium-sized black dog by the scruff of his neck and pulled him aboard.

She described the section of river the dog was drowning in as comprised of Class 2-plus rapids.

“Being in that water is a very challenging place to be as a swimmer. So, I just tried to calm him down and get him settled a little bit so he wouldn’t jump off,” said Stefaniuk.

Next, she had to determine where to safely paddle the dog ashore – and where he came from.

She debated bringing him to the other side of the river, but soon realized he must have come from above and presumably fell into the water.

“That’s where his people were. He wanted to get back up there.”

With the help of a kayaker for downstream safety in case the dog jumped back in and was carried away by the river, Stefaniuk re-entered the fast-moving current and set out to return the dog to its owners.

When she and the dog reached a safe outcropping of land, the eager pup jumped within six feet of the shore and was “out of there.”

“He went up the mountain and he was reunited with his people,” said Stefaniuk.

People could be heard cheering on the happy ending in the background of the video.

Hani Ammache, who was out for a leisurely walk in the Canoe Meadows area of Kananaskis Country that afternoon, also caught the entire effort on camera.

The Calgary man was soaking in the sights and sounds, watching whitewater enthusiasts during KanFest, when he earlier noticed the dog struggling to hang on to the opposite side of the riverbank, at the bottom of a steep cliff.

“The dog was hanging to the rocks. He knew he was in danger. So, I just started screaming. I went into hysteric mode,” said Ammache.

Ammache said he was considering jumping into the river to swim across and save the dog when Stefaniuk came to the rescue.

“I was really tempted to jump in and help him, but I was scared, also, because of the idea the river could take me and I could die,” he said.

“Then this lady came on her paddle board down the river and she noticed the dog.”

Ammache said he did not witness how the dog came to be in the river but also thought it might have fallen from the cliff’s edge into the water. He said it was not long after he started screaming for help that its owners came rushing.

While Stefaniuk praised Ammache’s efforts to grab the attention of anyone who could help, she also said she had no idea he was shouting, with his voice washed out by the rushing water.

“Fortunately, this had a nice ending and the dog went running when it heard its owners calling for him and was reunited, but it was scary to watch,” said Ammache.

He estimated the dog was in the water for 10 minutes or less, based on the fact it was still able to swim and had not given in to hypothermia, and how long it took for it to be rescued.

“This was a happy ending but events like these can also have a bad ending,” he said.

Stefaniuk, who has received rightful praise online for rescuing the dog, described the experience as “all just problem-solving.” Neither she nor Ammache were able to talk to the dog’s owners after all was said and done.

“When he leapt off my board and raced up the hill and you could see his people up there … I mean, that was pretty awesome. That certainly made me smile and I felt really good about that,” said Stefaniuk.

Jessica Lee,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Rocky Mountain Outlook