SAINT-HYACINTHE | A 15-year-old girl who couldn’t swim perished in the Yamaska River on Monday evening after possibly falling during a photoshoot with a friend.
• Read also: He is drowning for a remote-controlled boat
• Read also: Already at least 55 drownings this year in Quebec
“She couldn’t swim. It hurts … It’s really hard, “dropped yesterday Solange Cayi, a friend of Cynthia Wilson’s family, while she was keeping company with the mother of the latter, still very shaken by the drama.
Photo Jonathan Tremblay
Relatives of Cynthia Wilson gathered yesterday near the dam where she drowned the day before, in Saint-Hyacinthe.
–
–
–
The day before, his 15-year-old daughter was playing with a young neighbor of 11, living on the impasse Eugène-Tremblay, in Saint-Hyacinthe, in Montérégie.
Together, the two girlfriends would have gone without warning their parents to the shores of the Yamaska River, near the Penman’s dam, about 1.5 km from their homes.
This is a popular spot for taking photos and fishing, has seen The newspaper, here.
Once there, the teens indulged in a photo shoot and selfies – self-portraits – with the cadet’s cell phone.
Water sandal
At around 6:30 p.m., the 15-year-old reportedly dropped a sandal in the water.
She would have “done everything” to recover it, and would have possibly fallen while slipping on a rock, reported Thierry Sobze, a friend of the family familiar with the sequence of events.
The 11-year-old who witnessed the entire scene reportedly said that at one point only Cynthia Wilson’s backpack swirled across the surface of the river.
“She did not understand the extent of the risk of this gesture which turned out to be fatal,” said Mr. Sobze. If she had known how to swim, maybe she could have struggled, if she still knew. “
–
–
Research in the dark
The teenager’s lifeless body was eventually found late that evening, around 11 p.m., not far from where she fell.
This required a long and difficult research work, carried out partly in the dark, by the firefighters of Saint-Hyacinthe — and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
“In all, 16 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, including 10 from our nautical intervention brigade,” said Brigitte Massé, spokesperson for the City of Saint-Hyacinthe yesterday. The river has very little flow, except here. It is not a good place for swimming. “
Yesterday, the drowning of the teenager caused a commotion in the small community of the area. Several residents have stopped by to offer their condolences to his mother, who has four other children.
“She was a little girl with a lot of energy. She liked to go out, ”testified Thierry Sobze.
“She was a very respectful, very calm girl.” She had the joy of living, ”cried Solange Cayi, who considered herself an aunt to the deceased.
“His mother is inconsolable, his uncle, Justin Mbamboute, testified on LCN. When we went to see Cynthia’s body, she was really devastated. “
“Allergic to water”
The latter does not understand what could have attracted the teenager near the stream.
“She is allergic to water, even pool water. She doesn’t like water. I do not know what could have happened, illustrated the grieving uncle. It is a terrible drama. “
– With Cédérick Caron and the QMI Agency
- The SQ is investigating to determine the course of events.
–
