Port Hardy business owner Tristan Radzik decided to spring into action when he saw seven shopping carts submerged in a creek near the local high school.
When asked how he found out about the carts, Radzik said he’d first noticed them about two weeks ago while on a family walk, and then saw them again on Sunday, March 20.
“It was a thought in my mind that I could not shake, and a conversation in my house was had a couples times on the matter,” Radzik noted, adding he had also left a message about the carts with the public works office, but ultimately decided he would “take action on the spot that day and not wait for things to be taken care of.”
On the morning of March 25, Radzik had a feeling that the carts were still in the creek, and his worries turned out to be correct, as they were still laying submerged in the water.
“Once I saw them I jumped into action,” he said.
All told, all seven carts took him almost an hour to free from the creek and roll back up the bank onto the street, as each cart was tangled in branches and the water was about three-four feet deep.
“I used a rope to help myself get down and back up as the bank was about 10 feet high and a very steep slope,” he said. “I rolled the carts end over end up the slope while holding the rope with one hand.”
Radzik said he didn’t have anyone help him out as it was a spur of the moment decision.
“The only help I wanted was the rope I found a month ago on the side of the road while at the airport beach with my family on one of our walks.”
As for the carts, they are now back with Save On Foods.
“I waited until someone came and grabbed them,” confirmed Radzik. “I was worried that they might end up back in [the creek].”
Above all else, Radzik wanted to say that the community of Port Hardy has “been there for my family and has supported our store over the past three years, so helping the community comes natural to me and I’m happy I had the tools to get the job done.”
@NIGazette
editor@northislandgazette.com
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