Young man without lifejacket swims to shore after falling overboard in the Shuswap

SICAMOUS, B.C. — Shuswap Volunteer Search and Rescue (SAR) is reminding residents to wear personal flotation devices while boating after a drowning nearly took place.

Shuswap SAR says its ground and water were called by the RCMP for a nighttime lake search on Sunday, July 26 after boaters reported that a young man had fallen overboard unnoticed near the Narrows.

During the deployment, Shuswap SAR says its crews and members from Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station 106 in Sicamous met with another boat that had a family member who located the man on shore well south of the Narrows.

According to Shuswap SAR, the man estimated he was in the water for more than an hour. He was transferred to a search boat, then sent to hospital for assessment. He was not wearing a personal flotation device.

Additionally, Shuswap SAR is reminding boaters to be aware of their passengers’ activities and locations at all times.

“Pretty sure this is the first time we’ve had a live find in over 20 years of man-overboard searches,” Tara Stanley, Shuswap SAR search manager states in a post to social media on Tuesday (Aug. 4). “We are happy for the subject and his family that he managed to survive.”

Shuswap SAR notes a near identical incident took place on Mara Lake nearly two weeks earlier on July 10 which resulted in the drowning of a 24-year-old man.