Windsor-Essex teens receive OPP citation for lifesaving efforts at Seacliff Beach

A group of friends from Tecumseh and Belle River have been recognized by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for their life-saving efforts more than a year ago at Seacliff Beach in Leamington.

Mathieu Laberge and his friends Jude Chandler, Thomas St-Pierre, and Laurier Pillon were nearing the end of high school at L’Essor.

“Every year, the Grade 12 class would just kind of have their skip days,” Laberge recalled. “And we're going to have our day because we're never going to be here again.”

The 18 year olds decided to spend this precious last day together as high-school classmates at Seacliff Beach in Leamington, Ont. on June 20, 2022.

Little they know they’d be thrust into action.

“These guys, these Guatemalans, a few of them just came up to us and they said, ‘Hey, we can't find our friend,’” said Laberge.

The friend was drowning in Lake Erie.

Once Laberge and friends realized what was happening, they entered the water without hesitation.

“We know what you need to do and let's just try your best and figure it out,” said Laberge.”

After a short time searching, they found the missing man in the water.

Laberge continued, “He kind of just dragged, hit my friend's leg and then found them and pulled them up. So then we brought them on the beach and started CPR.”

Luckily, the group of friends had just completed their CPR training at school, perfectly suited to help.

“This is a real world test. And it was definitely amazing because I felt like I did the best I possibly could for this guy,” he said.

The friends rotated on chest compressions and called 9-1-1.

The man they pulled from the water, 24-year-old David Josue Mendez-Ramirez, had a pulse when the ambulance arrived 15 minutes later.

Sadly, the migrant worker from Guatemala died in hospital the next day.

A year later, the group of friends got a letter from the OPP stating they’d been selected to receive the St. John Ambulance Award, as well as a Commissioner's citation for lifesaving, bravery, and selfless action.

“It feels good because I want to go pursue a career in firefighting. And having that on there makes me want to do it even more,” said Laberge. “It makes me want to do it again and throw myself purposefully and try to do help for the good and for my community.”

Laberge, now 19, is studying business finance at St. Clair College.

But the hopeful firefighter said even though a life was lost that day, the actions he and his friends took have created a bond that will stick with them forever.

“If we're ever together and something happens we know we can do something,” he said.