‘Kids don't think of the possible consequences of climbing down the gorge'

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By Madeleine Leclerc

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What should have been a happy day for a local family, with one daughter graduating, turned tragic last Friday when another daughter went missing after falling into the raging waters of the St. John River.

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PHOTO BY MADELEINE LECLERC Town Police Chief Jean-R�½al Michaud is shown at one of the lookout stands overlooking the raging St. John River near the location where 13-year-old Shannon Bernard was last seen after falling into the water below the boat landing behind the La Rochelle Tourist Centre last Friday. At press time, the search was continuing to find the missing teenÕs body.

PHOTO BY MARK RICKARD

Members of the Hartland Fire Department, along with rescue boats from Perth-Andover, Edmundston and the RCMP, search the Grand Falls Gorge for Shannon Bernard. The 13-year-old was swept away by the strong current Friday morning. Police and emergency services officials were continuing their search for the teenager at press time Monday.

The tragic turn of events occurred when 13-year-old Shannon Bernard and seven other teenagers, ages 13 to 15, allegedly climbed over a fence at the La Rochelle Tourism Centre and down the stairs to the boat landing for a swim on their last day of school, a practice which has become somewhat of a tradition with local youths.

Bernard is the 13-year-old daughter of Danny and Julie Bernard and a student of the John Caldwell School. Shortly after the group went swimming in one of the natural pools located at the bottom of the gorge, a call was made to 911 after Bernard apparently slipped off the rocks and fell into the cold and swift-running river.

Town Police and fire officials quickly converged on the scene and set up an initial command post at the NB Power generating station located passed the gorge. Calls went out for assistance to surrounding fire departments. Drummond, Perth-Andover, Hartland, Edmundston and Van Buren, Maine, fire departments responded to the scene with boats as well as the RCMP with underwater cameras and manpower to start looking for the missing teen. What began as a search and rescue operation was later turned into a recovery effort. A local airport owner also contributed a plane to the search effort.

Later on Friday morning, the command post was moved to the back of the town hall. Divers from the Edmundston and Hartland fire departments took advantage of the chance afforded to them when NB Power closed the gates of the dam located upriver to use underwater cameras to search the deep pools of water located in the gorge near where the teen was last seen in the river.

Efforts continued throughout the day and into the early evening when the search was called off. It resumed early the next morning when divers and volunteers again took to the water in boats. Again, the dam's gates were closed, giving divers approximately two hours to work.

During a press conference held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Police Chief Jean-Réal Michaud stated, "At approximately 1 p.m. on Friday, the speed of the water was estimated at 12 kilometres per hour in the middle of the river and four kilometres per hour closer to each riverbank."

"We are confident that the teen's body is not in any of the natural pools. However, the search will continue for approximately 10 more days," stated Chief Michaud, later Saturday afternoon. "Experts have told us that her body may rise to the surface in seven to eight days, so we will continue our river patrols for up to 10 more days. We also have the assistance of a local pilot who will be flying over the river from Grand Falls to further south at least once or twice a day.

"This is not the first time that such a tragedy has occurred in the gorge," Michaud added. "People know they are not supposed to climb down the rocks, but some do it anyway. Where the fence is too high to climb over, they just cut through it to gain entry."

While search efforts continued, the missing teen's family, friends and teachers received counselling at the school.

"They are a strong family," stated Michaud, who had met with the stricken family on Saturday at one of the counselling sessions.

Also attending the press conference, Coun. Jacques Lafrance stated that council will be looking at options to try and prevent young people from climbing over the fence, which spans the length of the gorge on each side of the La Rochelle Centre.

"There have been past incidents in which other young people have either fallen to their death or have been seriously injured. For some reason, kids don't think of the possible consequences of climbing down the gorge. It's the last day of school, and, I think that for them, it's some kind of tradition to do something like that," stated Chief Michaud.