A situation that nearly turned tragic had a happy ending Monday evening in the South Okanagan.
Three visitors took swift action to save a drowning man’s life at Osoyoos Lake near Brookvale Campground on Lakeshore Drive and 16th Avenue.
Just before 6 p.m., a 39-year-old man began struggling to stay afloat . He was unable to swim back to shore, slipped beneath the surface and began to drown.
Moments later, two bystanders rushed to retrieve the man’s unconscious body and returned it to shore.
Matthew Smith, an off duty firefighter from Calgary, quickly began CPR. The victim, a migrant agricultural worker from Mexico was successfully resuscitated before the ambulance arrived.
The man was taken to South Okanagan General Hospital after the ordeal and released later that day.
Staff Sargeant Kurt Lozinski, with the Osoyoos RCMP, credited Smith along with David Ehrhardt, from Burnaby, and Melanie Sullivan, from Osoyoos, with saving the man’s life.
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