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Community honours rescuer Jeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, November 14, 2011
Sgt. Janick Gilbert died trying to rescue Lester Aqqiaruq, 17, and his grandfather David, whose boat ran into trouble returning from a day-long walrus hunting trip in the Hecla Strait, north of the community. The 34-year-old from Baie-Comeau, Que., was a search-and-rescue technician with the 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron at CFB Trenton in Ontario. He parachuted from a Hercules aircraft, along with two other technicians, into the frigid Arctic waters on after communications with the hunters were lost. A Cormorant helicopter from Gander, N.L., eventually transported the surviving rescuers and hunters to Iglulik. Lester said he was really sad one of the rescuers died. "I'm really thankful to them but I feel sorry for the man's parents," he said. The community held a memorial service for Gilbert on Nov. 1 at the Anglican Church. On the night of Oct. 27, people were at the airport waiting for the helicopter to arrive, said Celestino Uyarak, the hamlet's assistant senior administrative officer. "When we saw them escorted from helicopter - I mean the two local hunters - when they walked on their own power to the van, we felt pretty good at the time because we hadn't heard of what happened," he said. They had heard three rescuers had jumped into the water but they didn't know, until moments after the hunters and rescuers were taken to the health centre, one of the rescuers might have been in trouble, he added. A cause of death has not been released. "At the time, that feeling good went straight down to a concern. And when we got to the office, we were told this young man didn't make it and that was very hard to take for most of us that were involved here in the search," said Uyarak. "The first thing that came to our mind was this man was someone's son and later we learned he was a father and a husband." The following day, it was "very hard to accept" what happened because the sergeant had died trying to help people he never saw or knew, he added. The community tried everything to save the two hunters before the Hercules was sent from Trenton, Ont., said Uyarak. He said they sent two boats to look for the hunters on the evening of Oct 26, but to no avail. The following day, two boats, sent this time from the western side of the island, searched for the two hunters for six to seven hours, said Uyarak. They turned back as they were running out of fuel and the weather had picked up. "We tried reaching them before the plane could arrive to the area," he said. "We tried pretty much everything. It was very dark. We couldn't see for long distance. They couldn't go to the area due to high winds and bad weather." At about 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, Uyarak said they received a call two people had jumped into the water and later, they learned it was actually three. Some time after that, they heard the third man was in trouble when they jumped - a "very big concern" for the community because they couldn't reach them by water. Weather, high winds and rough waters hampered the community's efforts to reach them, said Uyarak. "It was a very big concern for the community. We couldn't reach them by water. We couldn't do anything to help," he said. A rescue helicopter eventually retrieved the hunters and one rescuer from survival raft. The two other rescuers, including the deceased, were later picked up from the water. Nunavut Commissioner Edna Elias offered her deepest sympathies, on behalf of all Nunavummiut, to the family, friends and comrades of Sgt. Janick Gilbert. "We are all very grateful to those who risk their lives on search-and-rescue missions in our vast territory," she stated on Oct. 31. "Sgt. Gilbert's bravery and ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty assisted in saving the lives of two Iglulik hunters. His courageous actions will never be forgotten. It is hard to find words to thank someone who succumbed in the line of duty."
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