Phillip's Harbour native dies in canoe accident
GUYSBOROUGH - A 41-year-old man from Phillip's Harbour died in a canoe accident in Ontario on Saturday, April 29. Kenny Jamieson's body had not yet been found by Tuesday afternoon.
His sister, Bev (Jamieson) Burke, spoke to The Journal from her brother's home in Milton, ON. She said it was her brother's first time out on a canoe trip. Nine men were travelling along a river near Brantfold with plans to camp overnight. She said the river was mostly shallow, but Kenny and his friend in the canoe with him didn't know a dam was up ahead and didn't see the warning signs. Burke explained that canoeists are supposed to get out of their canoes before the dam area and carry them around to where it is safe to start paddling again. Instead, Kenny's canoe was pulled over the dam in the strong currents created by the dam.
"When you go down the dam there are bad currents and that's where they got into trouble," she said.
The men were all wearing life jackets.
When Jamieson got into trouble in the water, a man from another canoe tried to save him, but the would-be rescuer also lost his life.
"Because of the strong current in that area, they (the rescuers) haven't been able to find Kenny." Burke said rescuers planned to go back to the area Tuesday afternoon with cameras to continue their search and drag the waters to try to find her brother's body. She explained that they had to wait until the water lowered somewhat, which was happening on Tuesday.
Jamieson had lived in Milton for the past 12 years with his wife Nancy (Mayhew), who is originally from Whitehead, and their daughters Ashlee, 16, and Kalee, 13. He was the second youngest of 12 children who grew up in Phillip's Harbour and graduated from high school in Guysborough. His mother, 75-year-old Dorothy, now lives in Pictou. Burke said their mother is "devastated" by her youngest son's death. "She just can't believe it." Dorothy Jamieson visited with her son and his family in Milton just last month.
In an email message to The Journal, Nancy Jamieson described her husband as someone with many friends. "Anyone who knew him liked him," she wrote. "This canoe trip was something he would love and looked forward to." She said the friend in the canoe with Kenny, who lives across the street, was pulled to safety. "He's in bad shape but will be okay physically." She is asking people to pray that her husband is found.
"I need people to pray," she wrote. "I have to get him to bring him home to Nova Scotia. Some of his family are here now and we are doing everything we can, but now please pray and help me bring him home."
