Update: One of the rescuers was Chris Pearson from Kimberley whose sons and their friend were the first to notice the girl drowning.
The Kimberley RCMP were called out to Wasa Lake after a reported drowning involving a small child on Tuesday.
Police said a three-year-old had entered the water and was unresponsive.
The child was rescued by her father and two bystanders.
One of those bystanders was Chris Pearson from Kimberley.
His sons Cooper and Cole and their friend Nixen were the first ones to notice the girl drowning.
“This girl was crying that her sister was drowning so me and my friend came running to my dad and his dad,” said Cooper.
Pearson describes what happened next.
“After the kids let us know what was going on I saw someone at the far end of the beach running in,” he said.
“We dropped everything, ran down the beach at an angle and jumped in the water.”
The dad of the girl had also jumped in and reached her first.
“The little girl’s dad did get to the girl first but he was gassed right out, just about drowning. Jason grabbed her and handed her to me and we just handed her back and forth until we could get back to shore.”
“We laid her on the wet sand and Jason started doing CPR for about five minutes and after five minutes she started choking up water and crying. It’s pretty miraculous.”
The girl was transported to the East Kootenay Regional Hospital and then to a larger medical facility, where she is in stable condition.
Police would like to recognize the actions of the two individuals for their role in saving her life.