1 rescued by Good Samaritan, 1 presumed dead after boat capsizes off Cherry Beach
Posted May 27, 2026 2:38 pm.
Last Updated May 28, 2026 8:00 pm.
The rescue efforts for a man who went missing in the waters off Cherry beach on Wednesday has now turned into a recovery mission.
Two men and a dog were in an inflatable dingy that began to rapidly deflate shortly before 1:30 p.m.
Police say a witness noticed the men were in distress as they were pumping out water from the boat and called 9-1-1.
In the mean time, the witness – who has lifeguarding experience – went out into the water in his own vessel to help. He managed to rescue one of the men and the dog before emergency crews arrived. He told authorities he had lost sight of the other man, who went under the water.
Const. Stacy Kellough with the Toronto Police Marine Unit says they are thankful to the Good Samaritan who “got the ball rolling” on the rescue and was able to pin point the exact spot where the second man went under.
“Right in that vicinity we were able to put a drowning marker into the water – about 35 feet deep at that location,” she said.
The underwater search for the man began right away said Kellough, along with help from the coast guard, within a radius of 100 feet from the drowning marker.
“During our underwater search the visibility was very poor in this area,” she said.
The rescued man, who is in his 40s, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but his condition is not life-threatening.
While one life jacket was found on board the dingy, neither of the men were wearing one. Kellough also said their boat was in poor condition with a lot of “debris and property on board” and was possibly overloaded. She added that this water is always cold and windy conditions on Wednesday made it more dangerous for small vessels.
“Going out in an inflatable dingy in these conditions – you need to be wearing your life jacket. This water is cold and you’re going to have that panic as soon as you hit the water and you can’t reach your life jacket at that point,” she said, stressing that simply having life jackets on board is not enough.
This is the second time in 10 days that an inflatable dingy needed to be rescued Kellough said, citing a similar incident on May 17. In both instances, they did not have all the necessary safety equipment or follow all safety protocols.
“The number one message is to be wearing your life jacket because then he would have been floating and we could have rescued him,” she said.
A witness who was on the beach said it was busy Wednesday afternoon because of the warm weather and the water was calm. He added that the response from emergency services was swift and urgent.
“I got here at 1:20-ish, there was already five TPS [officers] on scene. Within another couple of minutes Toronto Fire showed up and EMS was on their way as well,” said Peter Desousa.
Recovery efforts will continue until dark on Thursday.
“It’s sad – my heart goes out to the family,” said Desousa.
