On Tuesday, November 9th around 3:20 in the afternoon, Lundar RCMP received a call reporting a man in distress on Lake Manitoba near the shore of Venice Road South in St. Laurent.
The caller said she could hear a man calling out for help on the water and that two bystanders were going to head out onto the water in an attempt to save the man.
Officers from Lundar and Ashern arrived and were told that two bystanders located a canoe on the shore and that they had paddled out to retrieve the man, a 61-year-old from Garson, Manitoba.
The 61-year-old was pulled from the water and brought to shore where he was met by EMS and taken to hospital. He is reported to be in stable condition. According to the 61-year-old, he was fishing in his canoe when he attempted to move some gear, lost his footing, and fell into the water which quickly sapped him of his strength.
In a press release, Sgt. James Munro, Detachment Commander of the Lundar/Ashern RCMP, said "If it were not for the quick actions taken by these three individuals, this situation would have ended tragically."
Munro also said that due to the temperature of the water, the bystanders only had minutes to act and respond.
