This Is Just Unbelivable !

[McLeod]

A B.C. toddler survived a harrowing ride after he drove his toy truck into a river and was carried 12 kilometres downstream before rescuers caught up with him.

 

Three-year-old Demetrius Jones disappeared on the weekend from his parents' campsite at the Peace Island Park in Taylor, B.C. near Fort St. John.

 

The boy, who was not wearing a lifejacket, disappeared Sunday morning at about 7:30 a.m. PT, and was found far downstream more than two hours later after campers and RCMP launched a full-scale search for the boy,

 

He was eventually spotted by Don Loewen.

 

"We just kept going down the river watching all the log jams and keeping our eyes out for any sign of the car or the boy," Loewen told CTV British Columbia.

 

"We spotted something sitting on the east banks that looked like some rocks or an eagle or something."

 

What the men believed were rocks were actually the black tires of the overturned toy truck sticking out from the water.

 

"And what we thought was an eagle or something was the little boy's blond head sticking up there," he said.

 

Jones was clinging to the top of the overturned battery-powered toy car in about three metres of water.

 

The boy, who was only wearing a diaper and T-shirt, was wet from the knees down but was otherwise OK.

 

After spotting Jones, Loewen and the four other men in his boat approached slowly and cautiously to avoid tipping the improvised raft.

 

"I shut off the boat and I jumped into the water and swam over to him and the boys idled up to him with the boat and we pulled him in," Loewen said.

 

"We started wrapping him in our floating coats and started rubbing him and rubbing him until he got warm."

 

The group called his parents on the way back to the campsite.

 

Police said the toddler seemed unaware of the danger he had been in, said Const. Jackelynn Passarell of the Fort St. John RCMP.

 

"Speaking with the members, he seemed pretty excited to be dealing with the police. I don't think he really realized the gravity of what had just occurred," Passarell told The Canadian Press.

 

Police are using the incident as a reminder of the dangers of allowing children to play near open water without adult supervision.

 

"The Fort St. John RCMP wish to remind parents about the dangers posed by moving water and ask that everyone be vigilant around children playing in or near the water," states a news release from the RCMP.

 

"We wish to thank everyone who assisted with this search, which inevitably lead to a happy ending to what could have been a very sad incident."

 

 

[admin]

Ya, I heard this on the news last night. Amazing. They said the boy was most worried about leaving the truck behind. lol Happy to hear this one turned out with a safe return.

[ÜberFly]

I want to say stupid parents for not keeping their child within arms distance near water, but I'll probably get slammed for it!! They are so lucky their child didn't drown. I'm not sure they know how lucky they indeed are!!

 

P

 

A B.C. toddler survived a harrowing ride after he drove his toy truck into a river and was carried 12 kilometres downstream before rescuers caught up with him.

 

Three-year-old Demetrius Jones disappeared on the weekend from his parents' campsite at the Peace Island Park in Taylor, B.C. near Fort St. John.

 

The boy, who was not wearing a lifejacket, disappeared Sunday morning at about 7:30 a.m. PT, and was found far downstream more than two hours later after campers and RCMP launched a full-scale search for the boy,

 

He was eventually spotted by Don Loewen.

 

"We just kept going down the river watching all the log jams and keeping our eyes out for any sign of the car or the boy," Loewen told CTV British Columbia.

 

"We spotted something sitting on the east banks that looked like some rocks or an eagle or something."

 

What the men believed were rocks were actually the black tires of the overturned toy truck sticking out from the water.

 

"And what we thought was an eagle or something was the little boy's blond head sticking up there," he said.

 

Jones was clinging to the top of the overturned battery-powered toy car in about three metres of water.

 

The boy, who was only wearing a diaper and T-shirt, was wet from the knees down but was otherwise OK.

 

After spotting Jones, Loewen and the four other men in his boat approached slowly and cautiously to avoid tipping the improvised raft.

 

"I shut off the boat and I jumped into the water and swam over to him and the boys idled up to him with the boat and we pulled him in," Loewen said.

 

"We started wrapping him in our floating coats and started rubbing him and rubbing him until he got warm."

 

The group called his parents on the way back to the campsite.

 

Police said the toddler seemed unaware of the danger he had been in, said Const. Jackelynn Passarell of the Fort St. John RCMP.

 

"Speaking with the members, he seemed pretty excited to be dealing with the police. I don't think he really realized the gravity of what had just occurred," Passarell told The Canadian Press.

 

Police are using the incident as a reminder of the dangers of allowing children to play near open water without adult supervision.

 

"The Fort St. John RCMP wish to remind parents about the dangers posed by moving water and ask that everyone be vigilant around children playing in or near the water," states a news release from the RCMP.

 

"We wish to thank everyone who assisted with this search, which inevitably lead to a happy ending to what could have been a very sad incident."

 

[Wanny]

I want to say stupid parents for not keeping their child within arms distance near water, but I'll probably get slammed for it!! They are so lucky their child didn't drown. I'm not sure they know how lucky they indeed are!!

 

P

 

 

I wouldn't slam you. I don't have kids and I realize they are mischievous but you'd think you'd never let a three year old leave your sites near water. Rivers are so unforgiving and the peace is a huge one at that

[rundleff]

As I understand it, it was the grandparents watching the child, but he may have gotten up before everyone else in the morning. Something similar to the little girl in Edmonton a few years back that wandered out into their yard in freezing weather and survived.

[STACKS]

In edmonton awhile back a young child woke up early and opened the back door .when the parents woke up they found him dead in the small garden pond.

[Hawgstoppah]

as a parent and one who has had these types of things happen (though with happy endings) it's almost impossible to watch each kid (if you have more than one especially) for 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They can and WILL do really stupid stuff...often the minute you look away or answer the phone, or cook supper, or do something else that requires a bit of your attention span.... simply becuase they don't know any better. Do I blame the parents here? Heck no. Glad they found the kid.... and I do hope they got his truck back becuase as a parent I'd be putting that in a keepsakes box to give to the kid when he's older and understands more what happened.

[darrinhurst]

as a parent and one who has had these types of things happen (though with happy endings) it's almost impossible to watch each kid (if you have more than one especially) for 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They can and WILL do really stupid stuff...often the minute you look away or answer the phone, or cook supper, or do something else that requires a bit of your attention span.... simply becuase they don't know any better. Do I blame the parents here? Heck no. Glad they found the kid.... and I do hope they got his truck back becuase as a parent I'd be putting that in a keepsakes box to give to the kid when he's older and understands more what happened.

 

As a parent, with kids close to this age, I agree with what Hawg said here. You can't keep your eyes on them 100% of the time, no matter how hard you try. And what makes it worse, is that when you do, it's like they KNOW. Then, they are off doing something stupid, because they don't know any better.