Canadian groom saves drowning boy on wedding day
Clayton Cook jumped into Ontario river during wedding photoshoot after seeing young boy in distress
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
A quick-thinking Canadian groom has made international headlines after he saved a young boy from drowning while taking his wedding photos.
Clayton and Brittany Cook were posing for their wedding photographer on a park bridge in Cambridge, Ontario when the groom noticed a child in distress in the water below.
“For several minutes these kids were following us, and I was just keeping an eye on them because they were standing close to the water,” Clayton Cook told the BBC.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Then while Brittany was getting her solo shots taken I realised only two were standing on the rock ledge.”
“I saw the boy in the water struggling to keep his head up. That's when I jumped down. I just kind of plucked him out and he was okay.”
Brittany Cook said she originally thought he had jumped in the water as a joke. But she added that her husband’s selfless actions and quick thinking were just some of many reasons she fell in love with him.
“That's Clay to me… It's something he would just instinctively do,” she told CTV.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The boy appeared to be okay and didn’t say a word after he was pulled out of the water, according to the couple. Eventually, an older sibling took him away.
Wedding photographer Darren Hatt said Clayton Cook's reaction was so quick, he barely had time to take the photos.
He wrote on Facebook: “By the time the bride noticed and shouted out, Clayton had already jumped down and brought him to safety.”
“A special shout out to last night's groom Clayton!” a caption on Hatt's Instagram read.
“His quick action saved the little guy who was struggling to swim. Well done sir!”
-
‘My donation felt like a rejection of the day’s politics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump wants a weaker dollar but economists aren’t so sureTalking Points A weaker dollar can make imports more expensive but also boost gold
-
Political cartoons for February 3Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include empty seats, the worst of the worst of bunnies, and more
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal