Police Marine Unit Makes Dramatic Rescue On Lake Ontario
Posted August 26, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“We’ve got a report of two people underneath the span bridge at Humber Bay,” Toronto Police Marine Unite Sgt. Phil Glavin told CityNews’ Muhammad Lila right before the boat entered full throttle, whipping along the surface of Lake Ontario at close to 50 miles per hour.
That was the word: a drowning duo in need of desperate help, and CityNews cameras expecting to do a story on water safety, there to capture it all.
Two minutes later, the rescue team reached the area only to find a single head desperately protruding from the waves, threatening to be the last gasp of a father and son boating trip gone horribly wrong.
But thankfully it wouldn’t be, as a second head was spotted moments later, mainly because the pair was wearing life preservers – an item with more than just a clever name.
In the following minutes the duo were successfully pulled from the lake, before being escorted back to shore where they met a waiting ambulance and physical examinations.
It was an honest accident with a happy ending, but it could’ve been so much worse.
“We were just going along, we were going to head behind a wall, and a big wave came up, hit us sideways and flipped us,” said father Carlos Rozo.
“Their lives were in danger the moment they fell out of the boat…they’re extremely lucky to be alive right now,” admitted Glavin.
The water was just 16 degrees, meaning a few more minutes in the drink and they could have suffered hypothermia. But this rescue was just in time.
“It’s great when you can reach out and touch the hand of a living person and pull them onto the boat, there’s just nothing like it,” he added.
