INNISFAIL – There were six candidates training for the National Lifeguard program on July 28 at the Innisfail Aquatic Centre.
It was a crash course of 40 gruelling hours from Monday to Friday to become the best of the best.
At noon hour there was a pause. There was a special ceremony by the pool.
The candidates had a chance to hear a very special story about a 15-year-old teen named Bob Wardle who performed the Miracle on the Prairie on Aug. 10, 1951.
Seventy-one years later, Wardle is 86-years-old. He was at the aquatic centre on July 28 to tell that story.
Wardle saved the life of a toddler named Frankie who had fallen four metres into a 10 foot-deep cistern outside a residence in the southeastern Alberta village of Tilley.
Wardle, who had recently completed a lifeguard course, squeezed into the tight 16 inch-square cistern opening to rescue the child. After four harrowing minutes he finally found her after three attempts and then pushed her up through a three-foot long chute to safety. It was later estimated the child had been underwater for 15 minutes.
Frankie was saved to have a long, wonderful and productive life until her passing on June 29, 2017. She had 65 additional years of living because of Wardle’s heroism.
Frankie's survival meant meeting and marrying Gavin. They raised three boys -- Stephen, Michael, and Mark. The couple had seven grandchildren. Eleven people saved.
A crowd of about 30 at the aquatic centre were silently amazed at the story, which was the prelude of the legacy created in Frankie’s memory – the fifth annual Bates Wardle Award, which honours two volunteer-oriented students from Innisfail and Cochrane.
The award also recognizes lifeguard training and achievement, which is fitting as Frankie was all of that during her remarkable life, notably her dedicated volunteerism in Innisfail.
This year’s Innisfail award, which comes with a $750 cash bursary to cover past and future training expenses, goes to 18-year-old Shannon Wachter.
She is a recent graduate of Innisfail High School who is continuing her education this September in Olds College’s Hospitality, Tourism Management program.
Wachter has volunteered helping with seniors in local care homes and the Innisfail Health Centre.
She completed her national lifeguard training a year ago. That was followed by Water Safety Training Instructor certification last September.
The young woman still intends to pursue lifesaving instructor certification.
“I'm very honoured and very excited,” said Wachter, who was in awe of the 71-year-old story of Bob Wardle’s amazing rescue of Frankie Bates. “So far I have not had to do that, so I'm very thankful for that.”
As for Wardle, who is now a Cochrane resident, said the award will never lose its importance for both communities and for society at large.
“As long as I'm able to live I will be here. It is important,” said Wardle. “It's important because if I can encourage anyone to take additional training to take not only lifeguard training, but first aid and other supportive training, then the chances are that somebody being be saved are good.”
Michael is the middle son in the Bates family, one of the 11 saved by Wardle. He said the good crowds that come out for the annual award presentation increases awareness of the Miracle on the Prairie story and why lifeguarding is so important.
“It's going to increase the number of applicants we get, and as my dad said it's a fun process because we get to read these applications and all of these kids are really amazing,” said Michael, a resident of Cochrane, who said his community's recipient of the Bates Wardle Award will be announced later this month.
Gavin said this year’s award presentation was extra special because Shannon chose to have it at the end of a swimming training session.
“That's where all the swimmers came from and we had their parents sitting there,” said Gavin, also noting the training Dawn Murray, aquatic centre supervisor, was doing with the National Lifeguard program participants.
“It just happened to coincide with the date that Shannon picked, so that was good. She adjourned her class long enough to also participate. Yes, this was an amazing crowd.”
