ling instruct

12-year-old trapped under overiurned boat

Katharine Hamer
News Reporter khamer@nsnews.com

ANDREA (Andy to her friends)
Francis could never have guessed
that a day out on the water might
end in a near-fatal accident.

But her parents believe if it wasn’t for the
quick thinking of Andy's sailing instructor,
their daughter
might not be alive
today,

During a sailing
lesson Aug. 1 at
West Vancouver
Yacht Club
(WVYC), Andy's
Laser H boat turtled
(turned upside
down), leaving her

trapped beneath the

“It was just a

that sort of
thing.”

—— Jennifer Walker
12-year-old

Andy, a competitive

- swimmer, had been sailing for two years and

reached the Bronze IV level of her Canadian

Yachting Association (CYA) training. The CYA

administrates seven levels of sailing classes,

with Bronze IV being the level at which partic-

ipants begin to learn racing tactics.

Andy had practiced capsizing and turtling
mancouvres many times, but on this occasion
she was dragged into the rigging, with her life-
jacket, and harness pinning her against the
upturned boat.

Her instructor, 22-year-old Jennifer Walker,
was following in a staff boat. She dove into the
water and under Andy’s boat to extract her
from the rigging.

Walker found Andy had gone limp and
stopped breathing. She pulied her into an air
pocket cleared her airways and performed

‘Witness,
fellow
workers

help out

“> From page 1

she fell forward and under the

car,” said de Beaupre. He

immediately used his cell-
phone to call 9-1-1.

Steve Ronan, a Subaru
“mechanic and Thi Heng, one
of the'dealership’s sales staff,

grabbed a jack from the shop
and used it to lift the car off
the girl.

“The corporal at the scene

certainly felt that because
- they took that action it pre-
‘vented her from Suffering a
“more iserious injury,” said
“RCMP media liaison officer
“Const. Dan Guilfoyle yester-
day.

“rhe victim. was transport-

ed to Lions Gate Hospital by .
BC Ambulance Service with
non-life threatening injuries.

According to Lions Gate
‘Hospital spokesman Clay
Adams, the. girl is in stable
condition and. recovering
well, although he added that
«je could be a long process.

No charges will be laid as a
result of the accident.

cence,” said

appeal.

freak accident.
(Nothing) can
prepare you for

Markovitz yesterday. “This case should never
have gone to prosecution.”

The Crown presented its case in June'at
North Vancouver Provincial Court, after
which Ellan adjourned the trial to this past
Monday. The tial was moved to the
Vancouver provincial court house on Main Street.

Ranger had gone to Khan’s townhouse to apprehend Khan’s
six-year-old granddaughter, a child deemed “at risk” in the
home. The child is the daughter of Khan’s eldest son Faisal and
his late wife Naazish. The baby was ovo months old when
Naazish was murdered in December 1993. She was killed in the
Khan family’s British Properties home.

In 1996, Rashida was found guilty of the second- -degree
murder of 23- “year-old Naazish. Her murder conviction was
overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeal. Rashida’s husband
Abdur is serving a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10
years in jail. Abdur’s 1995 ‘murder conviction was upheld on

CPR.
WVYC instructors are all certified by che
CYA and have all received first-aid training.
When it appeared that Andy was o.t of
immediate danger of drowning, Wetker
brought her to the surface and helped the
other instructors, Kyle Touhey and Nick
Vaissbluth, get her into the chase boat.

“[t was quite a heroic act,” said WVYC gen-

eral manager Martin Wale, who describes the
accident as “an unfortunate incident” ina
generally safe sport.
Ir was the first such incident that Walker, a
first-vear law student at UBC and sailing
instructor of six years” standing, bad wit-
nessed.
“It was just a freak accident,” she said.
“There are no courses or training that can
prepare you for that sort of thing.”

Andy was transported to shore where 9-1-

1 was called.

Andy was examined on site, but the

attending paramedics decided not to take

her to hospital. Her father Rick Francis

said they had her sign a release form saying
she was OK.

Andy was later taken by her parents to the
emergency department of Lions Gate Hospital,
where she was kept in overnight for observa-
tion and treated for mild hypothermia, low
blood oxygen and irritated lungs.

Walker and sailing director Kevin Black met
the family at the hospital and gave statements
to medical staff there.

Andy's experience didn’t put her off sailing.
Two days after the accident she was “back in
the saddle,” said her proud father.

Said Rick Francis of Walker, “Quite literally,
she saved our daughter's life and we cannot
find words to express the depth of our appreci-
ation.”

Said Walker, “I'm just really happy that
Andy’s OK. That was my main concern.”

Charge stems from
child apprehension
attempt in February

Deana Lancaster

News Reporter
dlancaster@nsnews.com
NORTH Vancouver grandmother
Rashida Khan was acquitted of
assault in Vancouver Provincial
Court on Monday.

Provincial court Judge Carol Baird Elan
found Khan, 51, not guilty of assaulting

social worker Cheryl Ranger on Feb. 18.
“The judgement speaks for her inno-

Khan’s_ lawyer, | Daniel

RASHIDA Kthan was acquitted of
assaulting the social worker who
tried to apprehend her grandchild.

HEWS photo Terry Peters.

SAILING instructor Jennifer Walker (left) saved Andy
Francis from drowning when her boat capsized.

f assault

Ranger, a social worker for, five years,
worked in the intake investigations team
on the North Shore for the Ministry for
Children and Families.

During the assault trial Ranger testified
that nwo days before the apprehension
attempt, she and a supervisor met with
Faisal concerning his daughter. He did
not show up for a subsequent meeting
with the ministry workers. The social
workers decided to “remove” the ‘child
from Rashida’s home as there was “a
level of risk for the child in the home,”
testified Ranger.

During the trial a North Vancouver

. RCMP officer testified that on the day of
the apprehension attempt, he told

~ Rashida there had been burglaries in the
area and he was looking for a suspect. He
asked to sce her residence to check it out
for burglars, but in fact was looking for
the child.

“They used this ruse to somehow get in
her house,” said Markovitz.

’ Ranger -testified that Rashida ‘said that
Faisal and. the little girl had to leave
Rashida’s home, but hat Faisal had left a

note regarding his “plan. ” Rashida gave it to Ranger to read, who

then put it in her daytimer.

Tt was in her attempt to get the note back that Rashida grabbed
hald of Ranger’s arm, marking it.

According to Markovitz, the judge believed Rashida’s defence
that she grabbed on to the social worker's arm to keep from
falling. Rashida has one leg noticeably shorter than the other. He

added that even if it hadn't been an accident, the judge said she.
’ would have acquitted Rashida because she was acting in defence of

her property.
“FE think this judgement shows the the police’s and the min-
istry’s conduct was less than appropriate in. this case,” said

Markovitz.

-Har-El Synagogue says shalom te new rabbi

Katharine Hamer
| News Reporter khamer@nsnews.com

THERE’S a new man in charge at

"West Vancouver’s Har-E] s nagogue.
ar-El a few

: Rabbi Shmuel Birnham arrive
weeks ago from Asheville, North Carolina.

He and his wife, Sara, son David, and apricot

standard poodle, Shoshi, drove 6 ,000 miles from
the small mountain town to’ the shores of

Vancouver.

The whole family seems pleased with their new
home. According to Rabbi Birnham, seven-year-
old David said, “Thank you very much for bring-
while Shoshi. has been enjoy-

ing us here, daddy,”
ing the dog park at Ambleside.

could go to'a Hebrew day school. He will attend
the Talmud Torah school downtown.

The rabbi had never seen. Canada’ before he
came here for an interview back in March.

‘See Birnham page 5

art OT £ reason for heir move ,
P, t of the for ut ¢ was so David

“We had no idea s we could have mountains and ..

Bear
scare
tactics
limited

From page 1

scare” kits from a communi-
ty group some months ago,
but have yet to be trained in
their correct use. According
to Hahn, his department has
been unable and unwilling to
provide the training until the
Ministry of . Environment
presents a procedure and
strategy on the use of the
kits, due to liability con-
cerns.

In the meantime, RCMP
officers continue to impro-
vise scare tactics using whis-
thes and horns, when they
feel it is safe to do so.

But both Hahn and the
RCMP contend that the kits
would not have been useful
in this situation, since there
was nowhere for the bear to
safely be chased.

Although total numbers
are down so far compared to
fast year, Kirkaldi said bears
are entering a phase where
all they can think about is
fattening up for hibernation
and more bears will be lured
down by the prospect of free
food.

She believes society is
wrongly vilifying the bears,
when they’re actually the
victims. “One zeally irate res-
ident (at the scene) said,
‘better the bear than my chil-
dren.” Well, bears don’t
come down here tc eat your
children,”. Kirkaldi said.
“Bears come down because
they’re ; hungry; garbage
(that’s) improperly stored,
bird feeders, compost —

‘that’s what they’re coming

for, This bear died unneces-
sarily — once again.” .

Kirkaldi said that part of
the pr oblem lies in the min-
istry’s policy of not consider-
ing two-year-old bears, or
bears-that are habitual scav-
engers, as worthy candidates
for relocation.

“I know on the authority
of bear biologists that. rwo-
year olds are the best candi-
dates for relocation,” said”
Kirkaldi. “The truth is that
bears who are habituated to
humans are actually safer.
bears and the least likely. to
hurt anyone.” .

Yet Hahn said relocating
bears is not straightforward,

since. not all bears are likely’ \..

candidates and even the ones
who are, may re-offend...
“When we do try to relo-

cate them to an area,” Hahn: | °

said, “they’re pushed out by
other bears in. the - areas:

‘ because bears are territorial.

“The only’ place’. they've: . ; :

" got to go is down. They end: :

up in. campsites, logging
camps or rural communities
and they revert to the same
habits ‘People in ‘those
communities. don’t
Vancouver’s garbage bears in
their community.”

Both Hahn and
RCMP do. agree that: it

would be beneficial for con- :

servation officers to have a
stronger presence, on - the
North Shore. Hahn said a:

conservation officer. was‘out: =~
looking forthe ‘bear’ on. -..
Tuesday, but ended his shift’: .°-

at 4:30 p.m. “If we had more

people, we could: respond « : .

better. (and) take {care ‘of

~ more of the problems.” _

Jwant

the ..-