Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Sep 09/98) - A 10-year-old Rankin Inlet girl is alive after she was saved from the frigid waters of Hudson Bay last week by one of the crew aboard the barge.

Kayla Aokaut was climbing the steps along a cliff at Johnston's Cove in Rankin Inlet Aug. 30 when she slipped and plunged into the water between the rock-face and the barge, anchored close to shore.

As she was struggling to get back up onto the slippery rocks, Aokaut's cries for help were heard by a Northern Transportation Company Limited crew member who was pumping fuel from a barge nearby.

As soon as he discovered the tiny girl flailing in the near-freezing water, he jumped in and pulled her ashore around 3:30 p.m.

Claude Liboiron, NTCL's Churchill terminal manager, said that Aokaut probably wouldn't have survived had it not been for the quick reaction of crew member Lawrence Flett of Churchill.

"If he wasn't there, nobody would have known about it and she would have drowned," he said.

Liboiron said that Flett, a 38-year-old trained lifeguard, didn't hesitate to jump into the water to save Aokaut and should be recognized for his brave act.

"He could have been dragged under the barge if the current had been strong," he said.

"He was in the water for 10 minutes -- that water is pretty cold. He said he would have done it for anybody."

Cpl. Greg Brown of the Rankin Inlet RCMP detachment agrees.

"He did well... didn't think of his own safety," he said. "He's definitely going to be recognized."

Liboiron warns other children who like to hang around the barge as it's unloading fuel and dry goods in the communities.

"The barges are dangerous and kids shouldn't be hanging around there," he added.

While Aokaut is said to have been shaken up badly by the incident, she wasn't injured.