A helicopter was needed to airlift a 90-year-old angler to safety Aug. 12 from the shore of Thistle Lake near Field.
On Aug. 12 at around 9:30 p.m., Nipissing West OPP responded to a report of an overdue fisherman.
“The 90-year-old male, from Waterloo, left his rental cottage at 11:30 a.m. to go fishing and was reported missing after he failed to return,” OPP said today in a news release.
The OPP Marine Unit and the OPP Aviation Services-Helicopter Section were deployed to the area to look for the man.
It took them about three hours to find him. At approximately 12:30 a.m., the OPP Aviation Services spotted the fisherman waving to them from his boat (wearing his lifejacket, police noted) at the bottom of the rapids.
However, due to the rough terrain and remote location, neither the OPP Marine Unit nor the OPP helicopter were able to get close enough to the boater. Therefore, the assistance of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) out of CFB Trenton was requested to assist.
It took about five hours, but finally at approximately 5:35 a.m., JRCC airlifted the man to safety. He was in good health, police said, but was transported to hospital as a precaution.
You can watch the rescue below.
This morning, @OPP_NER requested assistance for a boater stranded at the bottom of rapids on Thistle Lake, Ont, 424 Sqn responded with a @RCAF_ARC Griffon helicopter, #SAR Tech proceeded to a successful evacuation and transported the patient safely to hospital. @CFOperations pic.twitter.com/7Gn4PVWYNf
— Trenton JRCC CCCOS (@JRCCTrentCCCOS) August 13, 2020
The man told police he was fishing near the rapids when the boat engine shut off and he was unable to restart it. Without the engine, the boat drifted until it fell eight feet to the bottom of the rapids, he said. He attempted to paddle-up closer to the rapids with no success, at which point he decided to stay put and wait for assistance.
