A 90-year-old man was rescued from Thistle Lake in Field on August 12 during a dramatic nighttime operation.
It was 9:30 p.m., when Nipissing West OPP responded to a report of an overdue fisherman.
The elderly man from Waterloo, left his rental cottage at 11:30 in the morning to go fishing, and was reported missing after he failed to return that evening.
The Marine Unit and the Aviation Services-Helicopter Section were sent to search and found the man just after midnight.
The OPP Aviation Services found the fisherman in his boat, wearing his lifejacket, at the bottom of the rapids. He was frantically waving at the helicopter for help.
Due to the extremely rough terrain and remote location, neither the Marine Unit nor the helicopter was able to get close enough to the boater so assistance so the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre was requested.
424 Sqn responded with a Griffon helicopter and at approximately 5:35 a.m., they rescued the man who was in good health but taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Police say the man was fishing near the rapids when the boat engine stopped and he was unable to re-start it.
At this time, his boat had drifted and it went down an eight-foot drop to the bottom of the rapids. He tried to paddle-up closer to the rapids with no success, at which point he decided to stay put and wait for help.
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
