The remarkable recovery of a 16-year-old Manitoba girl who was viciously attacked and left for dead along a Winnipeg riverbank may not have been possible without the help of two Good Samaritans.
Rinelle Harper was discharged from hospital late Friday afternoon, a week after she was sexually assaulted and badly beaten. Her attackers had left her battered and partially clothed along the Assiniboine River in frigid temperatures.
Last Saturday, construction workers Sean Vincent and Ed Mehanovic were arriving for an early morning shift at a nearby job site when a passerby alerted them about a girl in need of help.
When Vincent saw Rinelle on the ground, he immediately phoned 911.
鈥淲e tried to comfort her, just tell her that help was on the way,鈥� he told CTV Winnipeg.
Mehanovic said he thought 鈥渇or a second鈥� that Rinelle was dead.
He asked her if she was okay, but there was no response. About 60 seconds later, he said, she opened her eyes and tried to push him away, as if she were defending herself.
鈥淚 backed up and said, 鈥榊ou are okay, don鈥檛 worry, help is on the way.鈥欌��
The two men stayed by Rinelle鈥檚 side until police and paramedics arrived. Vincent said it was hard to see her in such a terrible condition.
"From the waist down, she was not wearing any clothes 鈥� no shoes, no socks, no nothing,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e put the jackets over her legs, feet, over her body, tried to keep her body temperature as warm as we could until the ambulance got here."
Rinelle was placed in an intensive care unit before her condition started to improve.
鈥淎t the end of the day we were just hoping for the best, that she made it,鈥� Vincent said.
Rinelle鈥檚 grandfather told CTV Winnipeg that her family wants to thank the two men whose quick actions may have helped save her life.
Vincent said he was 鈥渏ust a guy going to work on a Saturday.
鈥淣o hero, here, man,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust a guy with a cellphone. I thought what if that was my child?鈥�
Justin James Hudson, 20, of Winnipeg, and a 17-year-old who cannot be identified, have been charged with attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon.
Winnipeg police allege that the same suspects also attacked a 23-year-old woman on the same night.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg鈥檚 Josh Crabb
