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Central Okanagan regional district director awarded medal for Okanagan Lake rescue

Central Okanagan regional district director awarded medal for Okanagan Lake rescue | iNFOnews.ca
Credit: Shutterstock

CENTRAL OKANAGAN – No one can say this politician is in it only for himself.

Wayne Carson, director for Central Okanagan West, was awarded a silver medal from the Life Saving Society of B.C. this week for his part last August in rescuing two young girls in distress on Okanagan Lake.

The retired fire chief rescued two girls, aged 11 and 12, who had fallen out of an inflatable kayak just as the sun was going down.

Carson had heard the yells of family members near his home on Westside Road and rode out to the kayak drifting in the lake, only to find it empty.

He called 911 and immediately began a grid search on his Seadoo around the empty kayak, finding them drifting in the lake with their lifejackets about five minutes later.

At the time, Carson gave credit to the lifejackets, not himself, for the happy outcome.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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