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Mono Twp. senior survives frigid waters of Sturgeon Bay

Police assist senior who fell from his boat into the frigid waters of Sturgeon Bay, Thurs., Nov. 8, 2024 9SUBMITTED: OPP) Police assist senior who fell from his boat into the frigid waters of Sturgeon Bay, Thurs., Nov. 8, 2024 9SUBMITTED: OPP)
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A solo boat ride turned scary when a 66-year-old Mono Township man fell overboard in the chilly Sturgeon Bay waters around 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Police say the man quickly inflated his lifejacket and tread water and swam for more than an hour until he was able to pull himself onto a rock shoal out of the 10 degree Celsius water.

Luck was in his favour as a retired Ontario Provincial Police officer lives nearby. Just as he and his spouse were preparing to watch a noon television show, they looked out an saw an unusual object with a speck of yellow colour on one of the shoals that lie 400 metres off-shore.

Provincial marine police responded aboard the OPP vessel Thomas P. Coffin, and arrived around 2 p.m. to pull the hypothermic man from the rock outcrop.

Simcoe County Paramedics triaged and transported the male to an area hospital, where he remains receiving medical treatment.

Police credit the brightly coloured life-jacket and timely response of the retired officer with saving the man’s life.

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