Allison Wasserman's green kayak was swept under Nanaimo River and the source of a missing person's search. (Allison Wasserman)

By Ian Holmes

false alarm

‘I feel so bad:’ owner of flipped kayak on Nanaimo River comes forward

May 26, 2022 | 12:17 PM

NANAIMO — A possible missing person case involving an overturned kayak retrieved from Nanaimo River has been solved with the best possible outcome.

A woman contacted Nanaimo RCMP after police revealed an overturned kayak was found on Tuesday, May 24 wedged in logs in the river off Thatcher Rd., spawning an extensive search.

Alison Wasserman was kayaking down the river with family on Sunday, May 22 when she was briefly sucked under water by a pocket of strong current created by a large tree near the river bank.

She ventured toward the current because she was concerned her son being pulled in its direction.

“I went underneath that tree root and had a moment of ‘this is it, I’m going to get caught underneath this tree root and I’m not going to get spit back out,’ but thank goodness I did,” Wasserman told NanaimoNewsNOW.

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Outfitted in a life jacket and freed from her kayak, Wasserman clung onto a tree downstream before getting out of the river.

Wasserman said her kayak was not retrievable and didn’t think it would be the source of an extensive search involving multiple resources.

It was her plan to re-claim the kayak a few days later when the water levels had dropped, making the area more accessible.

“Only the top corner was visible and it’s such a remote area. We assumed that nobody would see it by the time we went back to try and retrieve it,” Wasserman said.

She lost her paddle, phone, a water pump and several other valuables during her rough ride down Nanaimo River.

“I’m so grateful that there are the resources, but I also feel terrible that here I was sitting at home telling my tale licking my own wounds…I was safe and sound, but these people were out in the water looking for me.”

Nanaimo RCMP reiterated to Wasserman a call to their non-emergency line would have been helpful.

“I hope this doesn’t happen again, but if it does I will make sure that I won’t anybody through what I did this time,” Wasserman said apologetically.

Resources from Nanaimo RCMP, BC Emergency Health Services and Cedar Volunteer Fire Department spearheaded the search effort.

Wasserman’s kayak was eventually pried free by Nanaimo Search and Rescue personnel and will be returned to her Thursday evening.

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