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Man who died after ATV fell through ice ID’d as Saint John businessman Pat Valardo
The 58-year-old Quispamsis man who died over the weekend after his all-terrain vehicle plunged through the ice of the Kennebecasis River, near Long Island, has been identified as well-known Saint John businessman Pat Valardo.Pat Valardo, 58, of Quispamsis, was transported to the hospital Saturday night after being pulled from the river but did not survive. (Submitted…
The 58-year-old Quispamsis man who died over the weekend after his all-terrain vehicle plunged through the ice of the Kennebecasis River, near Long Island, has been identified as well-known Saint John businessman Pat Valardo.
The 58-year-old Quispamsis man who died over the weekend after his all-terrain vehicle plunged through the ice of the Kennebecasis River, near Long Island, has been identified as well-known Saint John businessman Pat Valardo.
Valardo, 58, co-owned and co-operated Buccaneer's Pub on the city's west side with his brother, Brian.
He's being remembered as a well-liked, kind and generous man.
“It's been a steady traffic of people coming through and phone calls,” Josh Hogan, who has worked at the pub for about two years, but knew Valardo for about two decades, said on Monday afternoon.
“Nobody can believe it's true,” said Hogan, speaking on behalf of the family.
On Saturday, around 11 p.m., emergency crews responded to a 911 call from an ATV rider that he and another man on an ATV had both gone through the ice across the river from Rothesay.
The caller had managed to climb out, but Valardo was still submerged.
Using the GPS in the caller's cellphone, the 911 dispatcher determined the riders were close to Minister's Face.
Open water danger
Shawn White, division chief of the Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department, said there's about a 60-metre stretch of open water along Minister's Face because of the freeze-thaw cycle this winter and the brooks and streams that run off of Long Island, and is urging people to be cautious.
“If you're not familiar with the area, you would be driving across the river and be on solid ice thinking everything's OK and all of a sudden you're going to come to open water,” said White, who participated in the rescue.
“And especially with it being nighttime, obviously visibility is an issue. And that was one of the things that probably caused this unfortunate incident to happen.”
Because of the ice conditions, White said rescue crews had to walk across the river and use an inflatable boat to reach the riders.
They located the caller, who was already out of the water and shining the flashlight on his cellphone, first, he said. They put him in a hypothermic bag and used a sled to pull him back to shore. He was transported to the hospital as a precaution.
Another crew located Valardo and pulled him from the icy water. He was pulled to shore and paramedics performed CPR and resuscitation efforts on the way to the hospital, but he did not survive.
The RCMP investigation continues.
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