Couple Honored for Rescuing 2 Children

The Board of Supervisors honored a Port Hueneme couple Tuesday for saving the lives of two children whose mother allegedly was trying to drown them in Channel Islands Harbor.

Brian Wiggins, who accepted the resolution honoring him and his wife, Angie, told supervisors the rescue “changed our lives and made us realize what’s important in life--family and friends.”

Wiggins was visibly flustered as Supervisor John K. Flynn applauded him before other supervisors and a handful of residents waiting to speak on other board matters.

The couple were sleeping in their home about 2 a.m. on Jan. 12 when they heard calls for help. Wiggins, a former lifeguard, jumped into the harbor and pulled out 39-year-old Narinder Virk, 9-year-old Sonny and 6-year-old Harpreet.

At the time, Wiggins did not know how the Port Hueneme woman and her children had landed in the harbor, and he remembers repeatedly stroking the moaning woman’s head and telling her, “The kids are OK, they’re going to be OK.”

Investigators say Virk had planned to kill the children and then herself.

Wiggins said that while he and his wife feel sorry for Virk, they cannot forgive her.

The salesman said he has been subpoenaed to testify next week in court about what he saw the night of the rescue.

Recent local tragedies have only kept the memories of that night alive in Wiggins’ mind. Last week’s crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 left 88 dead near his home, and Monday’s fatal small plane collision in Los Angeles County occurred less than a mile from a business meeting Wiggins was attending.

“It just makes you realize how fragile life is,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wiggins said community members have donated about $3,500 to a trust fund he and his wife set up for the Virk children.

Contributions to the Harpreet and Sonny Virk Trust Fund are being accepted through Cal Fed Bank, 739 W. Channel Islands Blvd., Port Hueneme, CA 93041. For more information, call branch manager Lolini Teas at 985-2324.