/Letter: Close call a reminder to wear life jackets

Letter: Close call a reminder to wear life jackets

To the Editor

Just a reminder that this Saturday May 25 the Maple Beech & Cameron Lake Assoc. (MBC) is hosting our Summer Safety Speaker Series. It is from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Stanhope Community Centre. Never take your water safety for granted; read below.

This morning at around 10:30 a.m. our neighbour Rebekah was doing yard work and heard someone calling out for help. Rebekah called our house to see if I had my boat in the water. Luckily yes I did. I raced to my boat and Rebekah called 911. I found the young man clinging to an overturned canoe in the middle of the lake and believe it or not he had no life jacket on! I was able to hoist him into my boat without overturning my own boat; the young man was shivering badly and was racked with body cramps and could hardly speak; clearly in shock.

I rushed him back to his cottage and told his friends to get his clothes off and into a hot shower and to call 911. There were seven to eight young people renting this cottage. The young man would not have survived for long in the ice cold Beech Lake water if Rebekah had not heard him and I did not have my boat in the water (or if we were not home). The ambulance and fire department arrived after I had taken the young man to his cottage EMS examined the young man and decided it was best to take him to the hospital to get checked out. Rebekah’s husband Shawn and I took my boat out again to retrieve the sunken canoe and return it to the rental cottage.

Water safety does not get any more real than this; always wear your PFD whenever you are on the water. You could win a Salus PFD by attending our MBC Summer Speaker Series.

P. Carroll

Beech Lake