MCpl Maxime Lahaye-Lemay named SAR Tech of the Year
News Article / October 16, 2012
Master Corporal Maxime Lahaye-Lemay was awarded the prestigious Search and Rescue Technician of the Year Award on September 21 at the 2012 National SAREX in Val d’Or, Que.
“I feel honoured to receive this award,” he said.
Presented on behalf of the ParaRescue Association of Canada, MCpl Lahaye-Lemay was selected from among his search and rescue technician (SAR tech) peers, and recognized for “outstanding service to the SAR community.”
The award stemmed from the October 27, 2011, rescue of Inuit hunters who were stranded in an open boat in icy waters of the Arctic Ocean near Igloolik, Nunavut.
New team member, new challenge
“I was a new member on the team. I wasn’t qualified on the aircraft yet,” said MCpl Lahaye-Lemay, who comes from an infantry background.
Already an avid diver, climber and skydiver, MCpl Lahaye-Lemay had decided it was time for a change after serving two tours in Afghanistan with the Royal 22e Régiment. He looked into the SAR tech trade and it seemed like a good fit.
Fresh from the Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue (CFSSAR), he had just arrived at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont., in mid-2011 and was working to become a qualified team member.
“I had had a few small missions, searching for missing people, flares, boats and aircraft,” he explained
The week before the daring night rescue in Nunavut, MCpl Lahaye-Lemay had done a water entry near Cleveland, Ohio, in a sea state of about two or three. That was nothing, however, compared to the frigid waters of the Arctic, the 20-foot swells crashing down on the SAR team and the 40-knot wind blowing on the night of October 27.
Bad weather, bad shape
The SAR team arrived in the area onboard a CC-130 Hercules aircraft.
“We could see that the weather was bad [… and we] could tell from the aircraft that it was going to be a challenging swim,” he said.
“It was my first [parachute] jump that far up north. We needed a way to be extracted from the water, but the Cormorant [helicopter] was at least six hours away.”
The call was made and they decided to jump because it was getting dark and below them two people were fighting for their lives in the tempestuous ocean.
Of the three SAR techs who jumped, MCpl Lahaye-Lemay landed closest to the life raft and was the only one able to reach it. He swam for about 20 minutes before he finally reached the father and son, who were barely responsive in their life raft.
“They weren’t in good shape,” said MCpl Lahaye-Lemay. “I was warm for about an hour and then the sun went down and it started to get cold and the wind really started to pick up.”
“Part of the job”
He had to continuously bail the raft because the waves kept crashing into it. Then the father was swept from the boat.
“I had just enough time to get him, because he couldn’t swim, and I brought him back into the boat. … I went into the water a bit later. It was pretty rough.”
MCpl Lahaye-Lemay bailed for six hours until the Cormorant arrived and hoisted them to safety.
“It’s part of the job,” he said of the rescue. “We all take risks, it just happened to be me there at the time.”
Unfortunately, October 27 will be remembered by many as a tragic day because Sergeant Janick Gilbert perished during the rescue.
“It’s incredibly sad for the family … but we can honour Janick’s memory by continuing to do our jobs so that others may live,” said MCpl Lahaye-Lemay.