A man is lucky to be alive after being pulled from the frigid waters of a lake in the B.C. interior on Sunday.
The rescue, which took place on Sheridan Lake, east of 100 Mile House, was caught on camera.
In a pair of videos posted to social media, Piney Point Resort general manager Brent Gill, said the “super close call” shaped up when another man heard a faint call for help Sunday evening.
What happened next was captured on a GoPro camera.
Gill, Graham Archer and Don Reilly can be seen approaching a small boat adrift in the lake, with a man clinging perilously to the side taking rapid, shallow breaths.
The men pull the boats together then work together to pull the man, who can barely speak, from the water.
In his social media post, Gill said the man was stripped of his icy, wet clothing and wrapped him in blankets before being driven back to his resort.
In a follow-up video, the man — identified as Richard — thanks the men and says he’s doing much better and is “alive” though “still a little cold.”
In an email to Global News, Gill said the water was so cold that “things could have been really bad just a few minutes later.”
“Even if one person had a stereo on at a campsite or a boat motor running nothing would have been heard. He’s a lucky guy,” he added.
Gill said the experience is an important reminder that regardless of the weather or a person’s experience, boaters should always wear a life jacket and carry a whistle with them.