Winnipeg woman receives award for rescuing teens on Lake Manitoba
A Winnipeg woman is being honoured for her heroics after saving two teens last year on Lake Manitoba.
Renata Bandel is being recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund by being awarded the Carnegie Medal.
The award is given to civilians in Canada and the United States who risk their lives to save or try to save another person.
Bandel was one of 18 people to receive the award and only one of two Canadians on the list.
"I was very excited and honoured to be receiving such a prestigious award. I never dreamed that that would happen," said Bandel.
She is receiving the award for her efforts in saving two 17-year-old girls at Lake Manitoba on June 3, 2020.
Bandel said is was a perfect day to be outside and she and her family went to Delta beach.
While there, she said three teenage girls decided to go into the water on a raft, noting they were all wearing life jackets.
"They got swept out towards the middle of the lake and could not paddle back against the strong winds and waves."
Bandel said one of the girls stayed on the raft and was eventually able to call 911.
"Two of the girls decided to try and swim towards shore rather than stay on the raft and they continued to get swept further and further from shore."
Bandel said while she was playing in the water with her family, she was told that someone was in the water calling for help.
"I sent my niece back to shore and swam towards the first girl. She was so relieved, but also terrified for her other two friends."
Bandel said she brought the girl back to shore where emergency crews had arrived.
However, Bandel said she couldn't just stand around waiting for emergency crews to find where the other girl was.
"I decided to go into the deep water and maybe see or hear her and then my sister caught my attention… I saw the little red dot."
She said she started swimming to the second girl, battling the wind and the choppy water, but was eventually able to reach her.
Bandel started to bring the second girl back to shore and that's when the RCMP water rescue boat came and they got on board, and went and found the third girl who was still floating on the raft.
"I'm so glad that I was in the right place at the right time."
One of the girls was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia.
Bandel said she isn't sure what sparked her to jump to action, but she knew she had to help.
"I think it was pure adrenaline…I didn't notice the temperature (of the water), I didn't notice being tired, I didn't notice anything. I just locked in on the girls and swam to them."
The Carnegie Medal has been given out to more than 10,000 people and the award is given out four times a year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.