Yvan Adams has been crossing the York River in Gaspé Bay, Que., since he was eight years old.

Crossing it this year shouldn’t have been any different, but it nearly cost him his life.

Surgery from years ago left the Sudbury man with balance problems. While trekking from one side of the river to the other on July 18, Adams lost his footing in the fast-moving water. Before he knew what was happening, his hip waders had filled with water and the river’s strong current was dragging him away.

“I never had anything going through my mind, saying I will survive this,” Adams said. “I thought of my children, everybody.”

Luckily, Adams had invited his future son-in-law on the fishing trip. Dennis Quenneville, a local paramedic, watched from the shore as Adams struggled through the water.

Thank God he showed up.

Yvan Adams,
Sudbury resident

“Dennis had his first salmon on his rod,” Adams said. “He was looking at me, but he figured I’d probably be able to survive through that water. But I guess my legs became numb, and I didn’t have much power. I went down the whole river on my back. I lost my hat, I lost my camera. I got to a certain point where I kind of stopped, and I saw him going through the branches. He was about 25 feet from me, but I was at a point to quit everything and just lay there, hoping.”

Adams must have hoped at the right time, because Quenneville was able to pull him to shore in time.

“Thank God he showed up,” Adams said. “I just want to thank him for (saving me). I wouldn’t be here (otherwise),” Adams said.

Quenneville said his paramedic training wasn’t responsible for pulling Adams from the water, just human instinct.
“Anybody that was there would have done the same thing,” he said.

The whole time, Adams had kept his fishing rod in his hand. After he was dressed in dry clothes and the blue hint was gone from his lips, he joked with Quenneville that many people would have let him go to save the salmon.

“You know, I had a beautiful salmon,” Quenneville said with a smile.

Later on the trip, Quenneville did catch his first salmon. Adams said he plans to return to the area, but he said he’ll stay on shore.

“I’m still thinking about it, and I wouldn’t call it very bright,” he said. “But an accident is an accident.

“I will go back, but I’m not going to go across the river.”