Quick thinking and timely response saved a man's life near Biggar on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2020. His truck ended up in a slough and quickly submerged into the water. (Facebook/James Stanley Jiricka)

By Brady Lang/CKOM News Staff

‘The truck went poof, down’: Biggar grandmother recalls slough rescue

Sep 4, 2020 | 12:59 PM

“I thought I was going to be holding that man’s hand, and that would be the last hand he held.”

Those were the thoughts of Biggar’s Karen Jiricka following a dangerous situation at a slough near the town Thursday. She and her family had been working through harvest when a phone call changed the course of their day— likely saving a man’s life in the process.

Her daughter, Jennifer, lives near the slough and noticed a situation unfolding from her front yard.

“She called me and said, ‘mom, somebody just drove into the slough,’ and I said, ‘I’ll be right there,’” Karen explained, before quickly grabbing the keys of a truck from her yard.

Another man who was helping the family through harvest, Roger Kadler, came with her. Jiricka explained what happened next.

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“There was this truck with a fifth-wheel trailer, and it was in the water, but he wasn’t submerged,” she said. “At that time, we weren’t panicking… we’re talking to the guy, and he’s not saying a whole pile, but I said, ‘are you getting wet?’”

By this time, additional bystanders from the community came to look at the situation, including Pierre L’Hoir. Jiricka explained that L’Hoir quickly realized there was something wrong.

The truck, complete with hitched trailer, began to sink.

“I went, ‘oh my God,’ and all of a sudden, it just started sinking, so I just jumped in, and Roger jumped in behind me,” said Jiricka.

She then swam out, grabbing the man by the arm.

“By this time, you could hear the water just filling the cab of the truck. And he had his window open, and I said, ‘we gotta pull you out right now.’”

Jiricka said by that time, the water was up to the man’s face. The duo was able to pull the man out, swimming him to a steep, rocky shore of the slough.

“It was minutes… we just got him out and the truck went poof, down,” she recalled.

Jennifer had been on the phone, contacting the authorities about the incident. This whole time, she had left her children in their nearby front yard. Jiricka explained that another bystander had brought up that two children were seen running on the road.

Jennifer realized that the children were her own, and quickly moved them to safety.

The kids were carrying a first aid kit, simply trying to help the ailing man.

Jiricka said the man had been coming back from a camping trip with his family but had travelled alone down the stretch of road.

He was then checked out by a recently retired Cut Knife nurse who had been driving by the scene.

The Jiricka family brought the man blankets to warm up, moving him to safety until emergency crews arrived.

Saskatchewan RCMP confirmed to 650 CKOM that the man was transported to Biggar Hospital, with minor, non-life-threatening injuries.

The truck and trailer were safely pulled out by Rosetown Towing, according to Jiricka.

She said her ‘small-town training’ as a lifeguard helped the situation, but was happy with how the situation ended up unfolding.

“You just (dove) in… Thank god it wasn’t 90 below out, just windy and stuff,” she said with a chuckle.

“It had a happy ending, which is a good thing.”