London, ON, teen rescues man in wheelchair from river

On Tuesday, Ainsley Chapman, 22, was feeding the birds in London, Ontario's Harris Park as he does most days.

What he didn't realize was how deep the mud was. His wheelchair slid from the river bank into the cold Thames River and got stuck in waist-deep water.

"I didn’t think the water was that deep. My chair was in the water, my legs were cold," Chapman told the London Free Press.

Evan Spindler, 15, saw Chapman's distress from his house nearby and ran to his rescue.

"I saw this guy in a wheelchair moving around for a while, and I was about to head back in and one of my Mom's friend walked by and I started chatting with her. We both noticed that this paraplegic guy was in the water and I was like, 'Well, it's really cold and he probably shouldn't be in there,' so I decided to run over and see if I could help him out in any way possible," the tenth grade student told AM980.

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Spinder, who is training to become a lifeguard, told a family friend to call 911 as he headed toward Chapman.

Spindler pulled the wheelchair out of the river. Emergency crews arrived to find Spindler pushing Chapman, who has cerebral palsy, back to street level.

"He was very grateful. He was thankful that I got him out of the cold water. The reaction after that, the police officers all said thank you, and the paramedics said thank you, and my mom was like, 'Oh, my God, are you okay?' and I was like, 'Yeah I'm okay Mom,'" Spindler said.

Chapman refused medical treatment and was taken home by police.

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Both the London fire and police departments say their water rescue crews "highly commend the actions of the young teen," CTV London reported.

"Clearly, the fella had gotten himself into some difficulty because he had actually engaged on the flood plain. So being wheelchair-bound, had that flipped, we could have had a much more serious situation. This young man did not hesitate, went right in, and made sure that he could get the wheelchair back out again," Police Chief Brad Duncan told AM980.

Chapman returned to the scene of the incident the next day to look for his lost sunglasses — and to feed the birds.

"It's nice that people care. I'm glad there's good citizens out there," Chapman said. "The geese sure didn't care. They just wanted to eat."