Hero Rescues 3 From Lake
Source: OPP
Date: Fri Jun 20 06:11:40 MST 2025
On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at 6:15 a.m., officers with the Central Hastings Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were called to assist boaters in distress on Stoco Lake in Tweed.
It was learned that a group of students from out of town were staying at a rental in the area and three had gone put onto the lake in a canoe to watch the sunrise. They lost a paddle and then capsized trying to pick it up. The three people went into the water, with one not wearing a life jacket.
Thankfully, a local resident heard the calls for help, jumped into his pontoon boat and went out on the lake to rescue them. Everyone was brought to shore safely by the citizen.
Last year on OPP-patrolled waterways, 17 of the 23 people who died in boating/paddling incidents were not wearing a lifejacket. A lifejacket keeps you afloat when you suddenly and unexpectedly fall out of or are thrown from your vessel. Falling overboard and capsized vessels are the leading causes of OPP-investigated boating/paddling fatalities every year.
Police would like to thank everyone who assisted in this rescue. Swift action to call police and rescue these students may have saved their lives.