Canadian Hero on 'Anderson' Wednesday

Canadian men grab headlines with Caribbean rescue


CTVNews.ca Staff
Date: Sun. Jan. 29 2012 10:40 PM ET

Paul Gullackson doesn't miss a beat as he recalls how he and his cousin helped pull a family of three out of the Caribbean Sea after a small plane crash near Honduras.

But when it's time to chat about the media, the northeastern Alberta man offers a soft chuckle and concedes that all the attention he's received since the rescue is "unreal."

Still, Gullackson has agreed to retell the tale in interviews with the Edmonton Journal, the Canadian Press and most recently American talk show host Anderson Cooper.

"I'm just an Albertan, I'm not used to attention like that," he told CTV Edmonton last Wednesday, moments before a plane whisked him off to New York City where he was headed to Cooper's studio.

That attention, however, has been a reality for Gullackson ever since he and his cousin Larry Forseth, a 63-year-old man from British Columbia, pulled off the rescue earlier this month.

Gullackson said he and his cousin were parasailing near the Honduran island of Roatan when they witnessed a float plane crash nearby.

The small aircraft had just taken off for a sightseeing tour with a Texas couple and their four-year-old son on board.

Gullackson and Forseth, a retired Air Canada pilot, dove into the water and swam towards the wreckage to help out.

"The father had the little boy in his arms," Gullackson recalled. "He was holding him and had one hand around on the pontoon."

Meanwhile, he said the pilot was trying to keep the mother from slipping into the water, keeping one hand on her and one hand on the pontoon.

"She looked like she was slipping away," said Gullackson. "He was having trouble holding her."

In an interview with CTVNews.ca, Forseth recalled how the mother appeared to be unconscious.

"Her eyes had rolled back. Her lips were really blue. She did not look good at all," he said in a Jan. 16 interview.

Gullackson and Forseth grabbed the woman and swan towards a yacht nearby.

There was medical help on the yacht and the woman was soon treated for her injuries. The entire family was subsequently transported to a hospital.

Everyone involved in the incident is said to be in good health and life has returned to its normal rhythm. Well, almost.

Gullackson is still fielding calls from international media. Gullackson has since taped his interview with Anderson Cooper but is still waiting to hear when the segment will air.

With a report from CTVNews.ca's Sonja Puzic and CTV Edmonton's Laura Tupper

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