Although it was a warm, sunny afternoon at Ad's Cove near Old Harry, Magdalen Islands on August 21, 1986, the wind was strong, the waves extremely high and the undertow unusually heavy, the aftermath of a hurricane which had passed through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Several teenagers were diving under the waves off a point of rock to one side of the beach when Elaine Clark and her brother arrived at the scene. Aware of the dangerous undertow and currents sweeping around the point, they warned the group to come back to shore. Within minutes one of the girls, caught by a wave and carried out into the current, began to panic. The other swimmers, experiencing difficulty immediately formed a human chain with other people at the beach in order to reach the struggling victim. Just as her brother, at the end of the chain, reached the girl, a huge wave swamped the chain and broke it. Seeing her brother being carried out the sea by the current, and knowing that he was not a strong swimmer, she swam to him and tried to hold him above the water, but despite her efforts he slipped beneath the waves. All of the other people involved were able to return safely to shore.