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Family grieves reservoir deaths

A Calgary-area family is mourning the loss of three loved ones who died after their SUV plunged off a road into icy waters near Canmore at the entrance to Banff National Park.

CANMORE — A Calgary-area family is mourning the loss of three loved ones who died after their SUV plunged off a road into icy waters near Canmore at the entrance to Banff National Park.

Jennifer Margaret Waugh, her husband Darrin John Waugh, both 39, and brother-in-law James Allan, 43, were killed.

Allan’s common-law wife and Darrin’s younger sister, 33-year-old Jaimie Waugh, survived the crash with minor injuries.

The group, which had been out snowshoeing, was travelling on a rural road Thursday afternoon when the vehicle went off the road on a curve and plunged into the frigid waters of Spray Lakes Reservoir.

Jaimie managed to escape the vehicle with help from motorists who stopped on the side of the road and drove her to the Canmore Hospital.

The lifeless bodies of two other adults trapped in the SUV were pulled out by another pair of passersby who braved the cold water while a third adult was pulled out by emergency crews.

All three were pronounced dead in hospital.

“We are mourning the loss of our beloved sister, brother and husband,” said relative Sue Remner, adding they have a very large family unit in and around Calgary.

Remner said Jaimie remembers being pulled out of the vehicle by strangers and being taken to hospital. She had almost no marks or visible injuries on her body.

She was released from Canmore Hospital into her family’s care and driven back to Calgary.

Les McDonald was one of those who jumped into the freezing water to try and help others who were already trying to get people out of the car and do CPR.

“When I got there, there was somebody on the side (of the SUV) and I asked the lady what she was doing, and she said, ‘I’m trying to do CPR,’ ” he said.

“I went to the water and those guys needed help, so I jumped in and did the best I could.”

“I was frantically trying to find a knife and rope in the car,” said McDonald’s fiancee, Ashely Chapman.

“I grabbed an extension cord hoping something might help.

“Then there was a guy coming toward the car whose hands were cut badly and he was bleeding from his hands. He was absolutely soaked. We figure he was one of the first guys that pulled the first body out of the water.”

McDonald said jumping in the freezing chest-deep water was one of the scariest things he’s ever done, but he said he didn’t feel like he had a choice but to try and help.

Remner said Jennifer and Darrin got married eight years ago in Ireland and had been living in Calgary for the last 15 years.

“They were the loves of one another’s lives,” she said.

Jaimie and Allan — who liked to be called “Roddy” — were parents of a two-year-old and an 11-year-old from Jaimie’s previous relationship.

They moved back to Cochrane from Ontario a couple months ago to be closer to their family.

“They are a happy and caring couple and great parents,” Remner said.

Sgt. Brad Freer with the Canmore RCMP praised the passersby for putting themselves in danger to help. He added the investigation is difficult because the vehicle was submerged into cold water.

“We don’t know their speed and we don’t know their cause of running into the lake.”