Regina woman helps rescue young autistic boy in Wascana Creek

What could have turned into a tragedy had a happy ending thanks to residents in a west Regina neighbourhood.

A young boy with autism was rescued from Wascana Creek Thursday.

Gwelda Hales was cleaning up in her yard with her husband, when a woman walked by and asked if they had seen a missing young boy.

She explained the situation, and Hales thought they needed to do everything they could.

“We live by a creek. They need as much help as possible,” she recalled in an interview with 980 CJME.

She and her husband hopped on their bikes and went searching in opposite directions. She focused on doing checks, while also telling anyone she came across about the situation.

“I identified a number of people as I was going, telling them to keep a look out. There was a lot of community people, all of a sudden looking, plus caregivers,” she explained.

She was calling the boy’s name while near the water. While he’s non-verbal, she hoped he might make a noise.

Then, Hales noticed something out in the water.

“I saw something that would look to most people like a duck or a log. I kept staring at it … And there was a little voice in my head that said ‘Go check.’ Not that I was thinking it would be (the boy),” she said.

She rushed down from the bike path, and realized it was the boy, with just his head floating above the water.

“I immediately turned and yelled, ‘Help, help,’ hysterically. Quite loud,” she said.

“There was a man on a bike who stopped, kind of looked at me for a second like I might be a crazy person. I told him quickly there was a child in the water.”

Hales rushed into the water and swam out to the kid.

“As I got closer to him, I heard a sound, and I thought ‘This child is alive …’ I grabbed him, and he put his arms around my neck. That was a relief to me,” she continued.

She was able to swim back to the bank, but was only able to use one arm, since she was using the other to hold the boy up.

The man on the bike from earlier came over, and helped them both back on to dry land.

“He had a phone and he called 9-1-1 … (Police and ambulance) came very quickly … They said he was very, very cold, but his vitals were good.”

It was an absolute relief for her and the rest of the people searching to see the boy safe and sound.

“(I felt) extremely joyful and relieved. I can’t imagine what this community would be like right now if it had been a different scenario,” she said.

However, there’s one loose end she would like to tie up.

The man who helped her and the boy out of the water only told her his first name, Doug.

“I gave him my phone number and told him to text me, but he never did, so I don’t know who he is … So, kudos to Doug, because it might have been a different story if I hadn’t met him.”