Drownings in Ontario - Statistics 2011

#24. Student missing after plunge into Niagara Falls

Surveillance footage from the nearby visitors’ centre shows that around 8:30 p.m., one of the women climbed over the railing while holding an umbrella and sat on a block pillar with her legs straddling the rail. Police say water in this area is extremely fast-moving; the woman is presumed to have drowned. No foul play is suspected.

During the search Monday, at 8:10 a.m., the Erie County Sheriff’s department located the remains of an unidentified male in the lower the Niagara River whirlpool. Both police and the coroner are investigating, but officials said the body is not likely to be related to the young woman’s fall.

#23. Popular Carleton Place businessman struck, killed by boat while swimming

Snelling, 67, was swimming near his residence at Wolfe Lake, located eight kilometres west of Westport in the Township of Rideau Lakes, when he was struck by a passing boat operated by a family who police says were water skiing at the time.


OPP says the boat with an inboard engine, being used by an Ottawa family who were staying at their cottage just a few doors away from Snelling's lakeside residence, struck the man as he was swimming. The operator told police the victim was not visible at the time of the mishap.

Interesting that the reporter calls this a 'mishap', and the police do not lay charges.
It seems to me that boat operators ought to be aware of neighbours swimming. How can they say he wasn't visible? Perhaps they didn't look for him. I have photos and video (below) of people who spotted loons while on a fast boat. People, slow down. This 2010 May 2-4 w/e, as well as my boating videos, demonstrate the lack of awareness of people around them.

As of Friday, August 5th, 61 people have drowned in Ontario since May 1, according to Barbara Byers of the Lifesaving Society. Eighteen others have drowned from boating-related incidents this summer. None wore a life-jacket.

Victim voiced fears about tubing

Calgary Herald
By Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald August 7, 2011 10:00 PM 
Pacifique Mangapi joined ... who is presumed drowned after a boating accident the day before.


Another horrible incident. Why would so-called friends not insist on a lifejacket? It is not called an accident, as this is murder. He could not swim. He told his girlfriend he was afraid of the water. He went tubing and drowned.

#22. Woman Found Dead in Echo Lake

Huntsville OPP report that on Monday, just after 8:30 a.m., a neighbour found the body of  55-year-old Kathryn Charteris of Milton, who had been visiting her family cottage and was in the process of renovating it.
Police and paramedics went to Lawson Road in Baysville. Sometime during the late evening hours of July 31st and the early morning hours of Monday, she had gone for a swim and didn't return to the cottage.  No foul play is suspected.

#21. Deceased identified in boating collision

Toronto man, 22, killed on Lake of Bays

Staff Sgt. Mike Frew of the Huntsville OPP said that 22-year-old Matthew Ludlow of Toronto was killed after the boat in which he was a passenger collided with Pancake Island at 3:15 a.m. on July 10.
There were four people in the boat. The driver, 23-year-old Colin Eadie, has been charged with operating a vessel while drunk, and dangerous operation of a vessel causing death.

#17, 18, 19, 20 Four Drown in three separate Quebec incidents

• Two young brothers died in a river near Normandin, north of Lac St–Jean, Friday, July 22. Police say the 6–year–old and 8–year–old were with their family on vacation. They said all six members of the family were out on a sandbank in the middle of the Ashapmushuan River when the parents were distracted; Mom was saving Dad who fell in. The kids lost their lives slipping into the river.
• A 22-year-old man drowned near Aylmer, close to the Ontario border.
• Paramedics said a group of young people went for a swim in an abandoned quarry in the area Friday afternoon. The man who drowned swam into deep water but could not get back to shore.



Normandin, Quebec

• A fourth man, a 25–year–old Montrealer who was fishing near Mont–Laurier in the Lièvre River, was reported missing on Wednesday. Quebec provincial police divers found his body Friday.

#16. Vancouver boy, 11, drowns near Lacamas Lake
 - ‎Jul 19, 2011‎

The area where Tuesday's drowning happened is no stranger to tragedy, residents who live near Lacamas Lake said. Doug Espinosa, 19, of Camas has spent summer days at the Potholes since he was 
old enough to swim. As he looked across the street at fire ...

#15. Mourning teen who drowned: Young girl remembered as polite, helpful

Police divers recovered 13-year-old Uche Chuks’ body early Wednesday morning, hours after she disappeared when she jumped into Lake Ontario from a Hamilton dock. A non-swimmer, the article states that the water was choppy, the wind blew, and the bottom drops off fairly quickly.

#13. #14. Teen girls found dead in lake after outing

Toronto News: Father of drowned teen can't bear to look at 'lake

 of death'

• 
  Sabrina Alibhai, left, is shown with her best friend Gift Diji. The pair drowned in Musselman's Lake on July 19. Two teenage girls (age 15 and 16 years old) are dead after drowning on Musselman Lake, 60 km north of Toronto, on Tuesday night, July 19. They were swimming near their rubber dingy, about 100m off shore. York Regional Police spokeswoman Rebecca Boyd said police and emergency personnel were called.
  
  
  

  Around 8 p.m., Gift fell into the water after waves from a passing speedboat rocked their small raft, Alibhai said. His daughter jumped in to help.

  Kyle Jenkins was on his dock when he noticed the pair struggling and heard Sabrina yell to Gift, “Let go of me, you’re pulling me under!”

  Jenkins lowered his boat into the water, which takes 20 to 30 seconds, “and in that 20 or 30 seconds I watched two kids die.”

12. SECOND DROWNING REPORTED IN SEGUIN TWP. 
July 4, 2011 A Pickering man is dead after drowning Sunday morning in Sequin Twp. OPP were called after 3 a.m. when a row boat overturned and threw the occupants into the water. All made it to shore, with the exception of one man. A group of eight people  took a 16-foot aluminum boat onto the water early Sunday morning. Not far from shore they lost one of the oars. A man jumped in to get it causing the boat to list, tossing everyone else into the water. Three managed to stay with the boat, just four were able to swim to shore.

None of the occupants of the boat were wearing pfd’s. Alcohol and no life jackets are the reasons for this incident.

West Parry Sound OPP Marine Unit along with Sequin Fire responded and did a shore line and water search to no avail. The search was delayed until light, when the body of Anusanthan Nadarajah, 30, was found 4.5 metres below the surface.

11. Canada Day drowning victim's body recovered  

The body of one of two men who went missing during a Canada Day boating incident in Ontario's cottage country has been found, police said on Monday.

Durham Regional Police say the body was discovered and removed from Lake Scugog late Sunday night after a two day search. The men's boat collided with another watercraft about 200 metres east of Scugog Island's north shore.

9. & 10. Weekend accidents kill 13 in Quebec

There were also two drownings. A two-year-old boy drowned Saturday in a reservoir just outside his family's home in the Outaouais region. On Friday, an 18-month-old girl drowned in the Lake of Two Mountains in Pointe-Calumet, in the Laurentians.

8. A 7-year old boy has been airlifted to Sick Kids in Toronto. He is in extremely critical condition after nearly drowning in Lake Muskoka. Just after 3:30pm Sunday, Bracebridge OPP was called to Muskoka Beach. A group of four youths had entered the water, three made it back safely after experiencing some difficulty in the deep water. The fourth boy was found with the help of emergency services and bystanders. He was found in 10 to 15 feet of water near the mouth of the Hoc Roc River. The boy remains in extremely critical condition in Bracebridge Hospital. The police investigation continues.

6. & 7. BOAT SAFETY: Provincial police have confirmed that two people who drowned in a boating accident on the St. Lawrence River last Friday were "not" wearing life jackets.

June 27, 2011

OPP CONFIRMED two people who drowned in a boating incident were NOT wearing life jackets. On the St. Lawrence River, you'd think it would be wise to do so.
One man fell out of a fishing boat, the other died trying to rescue him, both from Toronto.

THERE HAVE BEEN 7 WATER-RELATED DEATHS IN ONTARIO IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS.

5. OPP confirm a Gravenhurst man is dead after cliff diving into Lake Muskoka 
Cliff diving incident sends one man to hospital with life threatening injuries this afternoon 

A Gravenhurst man is dead after a cliff diving accident. Bracebridge OPP was called to the scene at about 4:30pm Sunday after the man had dove from a 50-foot high cliff into Lake Muskoka in Gravenhurst. The man misjudged the distance to the water and struck rock structure before hitting the water. Nearby witnesses got the man out of the water and began CPR. He was taken to a waiting ambulance at Muskoka Wharf. 49-year old Mark Houle of Gravenhurst is deceased. The OPP continue the investigation.

4. A Mississauga woman is dead after drowning in Sucker Lake in Seguin Township. West Parry Sound OPP says the woman was swimming a short distance away from her dock Friday evening when she ran into trouble in the water. Witnesses tried to help her but couldn’t. A search by OPP was called off late Friday night. The body of 22-year old Nadia Nerissa Dennie was found by OPP on Saturday morning a short distance away from where she was last seen. A post mortem is being done Sunday.

3. A man is dead after trying to swim across the Muskoka River. Bracebridge OPP and emergency services personnel responded to the report of a possible drowning near High Falls on the Muskoka River today. Police say the man tried to swim across the river when he ran into difficulty. Several onlookers tried to rescue him. The victim was located by police divers about 90 minutes later. The victim has been identified as 21-year old Rich Trespeces of Maple, Ontario.

2. As a child drowned, the fun went on at Quebec water park

‎
Globe and Mail - Ingrid Peritz - 23 Jun 2011

Playing in a wave pool at a park north of Montreal, Jeremy Mulumba was swept by surging water toward the deep end. A classmate grabbed his shoulder and Jeremy in turn tried to grip his friend’s hand, before a second wave pushed Jeremy down below the water’s surface.

He died in hospital, having been underwater for more than an hour.

1. OPP issue statement about drowning near Athens

19 Jun 2011
... announcement from the Ontario Provincial Police: The Leeds County detachment of the OPP are investigating a swimming accident that occurred on the 18th.

From NYTimes, July 27, 1895

A report by the Lifesaving Society said drownings rose in last year, ... but we can take measures to prevent deaths like this. ...

QUICK FACTS: Over the 2010 Canada Day long weekend, 16 deaths occurred in OPP-policed areas (12 people died in motor vehicle collisions, two in boating incidents and two others in ATV incidents). 

The review finds that fully 96% - or all but one of 23 – of boaters who drowned were not wearing lifejackets or personal flotation devices.

In addition, a third of drowning victims were born outside of Canada and 40% were non-swimmers.

Drownings in Ontario - Statistics 2010

Same old, same old. I have rewritten this post to include current data.
Another dreadful week in Ontario. Three deaths on the roads, more drownings. Our laws say that there must be one life-jacket per person on-board a vessel. Not having one can result in a $250 fine.

I e-mailed Barbara Byers, of the Lifesaving Society.

As of today, Aug. 20th,  the number of drownings in Ontario from January to today is 90. The total for the same time last year is 87.
This includes drownings in lakes, rivers and pools."

Since May  6 toddlers have died in Ontario. 
 Ottawa woman, 19, latest summer drowning
Ottawa Citizen
One man, 26-year-old Michel Daoust, died after jumping from a cliff into Otty Lake near Perth. In the latest tragedy, police and firefighters were called to the scene. He jumped off at about 3:50 p.m. and didn't surface. His body was recovered.

Ontario coroner to review all drownings - Parentcentral.ca

6. 20 Aug  Bruce Peninsula - Twenty-four Year Old Drowns At Sauble Beach (#91?)
Mississauga man latest in spate of Ontario drownings‎ 

A 24-year-old Mississauga man died Thursday at Sauble Beach, the latest in a string of drownings inOntario this week. The man, whose identity has not been released, had been swimming in rough waters in Lake Huron, where two other young people drowned this week. 

5. Burlington man's death latest in a string of drownings‎

The drowning at Sherkston Shores park Thursday evening was the second Lake Erie drowning in Ontario this week. Marco Butler, 18, of Stoney Creek.

4. Body of woman drowned near Perth found19 Aug 2010 ... Police have found the body of 19-year-old Kristen Cross, of Ottawa, who disappeared Wednesday while swimming in a lake about 30 kilometres west of Perth, S.W. of Ottawa, on Dalhousie Lake.

Locals know that the lake is a lovely shallow lake, but 400metres is a long swim, especially if you are drunk. One person dropped her off in the lake, and took off on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday afternoon her body was found.
The law says that boats and Personal Water Craft (PWC) must have a life jacket on board, but adults make choices not to wear them.
For the most part, clever parents put life jackets on children.

I would hope that this tragedy will be a lesson that will prevent another death.


3. Another drowning: Station Beach in Kincardine
On Monday, August 16th, Oksana Milovanovic, a 16-year old exchange student from Vertou, France. Her body was found at around 7 a.m. on the shores of Kincardine beach, approximately one kilometre north of where she was last seen.
Oksana Milovanovic went missing in Lake Huron on her second day in Canada. Her body was found Thursday, August 19th. This is the 3rd drowning this week.


The OPP marine unit, underwater search and rescue unit, and an OPP helicopter as well as detachment members on foot and ATVs were involved in the search for Milovanovic. Condolences to the family, whom the OPP met at the airport. 

2. Boy dead following Georgian Bay drowning incident

19 Aug 2010 ... A 10-year-old boy is dead and a 63-year-old woman is in hospital following a canoeing mishap that led to an overnight search on Georgian Bay.

1.Man drowns in Nottawasaga River - CTV News

10 Jul 2010 ... Witnesses said the 31-year-old victim waded into the river to his death marks the fourth drowning in the Georgian Bay area this year.

We have had so many drownings, but the causes vary. Mandatory life jackets will not prevent swimming and alcohol-related drownings. But they should be mandatory for children on a boat. Even then, as with the Georgian Bay incident, winds come up suddenly, a current takes them down the lake or river.  In addition, as the Marine Division of the OPP have been saying, kid's inflatable toys are not life preservers and belong in a pool, not in a lake, with boats and the wind creating large waves.

The family, at left, has a child in front (which is illegal) and lost the one in the back (which is just stupid). If they are going to participate in stupid, illegal activities, they are not going to follow mandated life jackets!

Immigrants are at higher risk for drowning while boating and swimming than people born in Canada, according to research from the Lifesaving Society.

Almost 20 per cent of immigrants are non-swimmers, compared to 4 per cent of people born in Canada, the study found. When they see 'locals' swimming at a fishing hole, e.g., Bala Falls, they jump in, too, unaware of the current and ignoring signage. last year in Bala, two men drowned (non-swimmers) who chased after a child floating away while wearing a life jacket.

I believe that adults should be given the benefit of making their own life choices. People swimming, non-swimmers falling into the water, high-speed boats, there are many reasons for people drowning...

• waterskiing without a spotter
• children swimming alone, or in dangerous water
• young males swimming in dangerous places (three this year)
• Poor equipment or equipment failure
• seniors swimming alone (a sector that is increasing due to demographics, and a stubborn independence!)
• inexperienced canoeists (two in 2009m a couple more this year)
• inexperienced swimmers near a dam (one last year, 2 this year)
• Personal Watercraft (PWC) operators speeding
• people unfamiliar with boats (bad enough)
• too many boats in a small area
• fishing drunk (even worse)
• boating drunk (the worst)

But the majority of drownings occur when males are fishing. Honestly!
Fishing: the cause of more deaths
14 May 2009
In the decade from 1991-2000, there were 5,900 water-related deaths  in Canada; of that total, 889 died fishing. More fishers drown than swimmers. And more fishers die than power boaters, canoeists, scuba divers, sailors and kayakers combined.

Ontario drownings continue.
Put the life jackets on the children at all times on a boat. But when I am quietly riding soberly in my canoe in September, when all is quiet, on a calm, still day, surely I should be able to make my own decision. The life jacket is there and no one is around. My husband demands I wear it, and I do, but I think this type of a law crosses the boundary.

There are always going to be drownings, although many are preventable. We phoned the police last year since cottage renters were drinking, setting off fireworks and being raucous in the wee hours. A bit later, after the police had visited and told them to be quiet, they then went out on the water. You could hear that they had been drinking. These people could have drowned. I heard them. They were being crazy. If we wanted to prevent drownings we could force everyone near the water or swimming to wear them. But this is ridiculous. Adults make stupid choices. Adults who fish and drink, who stand up in boats without life jackets, are taking a risk. They know it. Adults who swim in the dark while drunk make choices. We cannot legislate smart behaviour.

~~~~~~~~ My Muskoka: Watery Wednesday #48 (2009) By Jenn Jilks
I was quoted in the Globe and Mail: “Nothing's changed,” said Jennifer Jilks, a Muskoka cottager for more than 40 years and author of My Muskoka. “The attitude is, they come up here and it's party time.”

2009 Statistics for Muskoka

2008 Statistics for Muskoka

Drowning statistics 2009

Drowning is something that affects of of society. EMS crews and Volunteer Services were called for 9 drownings last summer, 2008. This year (2009) we are up to 11.


2009 Statistics for Muskoka

In an interesting post on Parry Sound paper, 2009:

Mandatory life-jackets? parrysound.com

"The deaths — one in Huntsville and the other following a Lake Muskoka boat crash — have also prompted calls from police and safety groups for mandatory life jackets." 

Many drownings related to alcohol, study says

July 8, 2009 - by Evan French

"A pair of newly released drowning trend reports, compiling 10 years of research by the Canadian Red Cross, show that boating fatalities make up 39 per cent of drowning victims, and alcohol is a factor in about half of the cases."

Drowning in Seguin Township

"Pat Gaughan was on a fishing vacation with his family at a cottage in Seguin Township last week when they began to hear people screaming sometime."
Shortly after midnight, a young man drowned after going out in a canoe with another young man. August 20, 2009.
~~~~~~~~~~
Post of August 9, 2009:
And in Arrowhead Provincial Park, north of Huntsville.
Reported in The Star:
A man drowned after a canoe tipped in Arrowhead Provincial Park at 1 a.m. today – bringing the death toll on Ontario waterways to eight in just over a week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 drowns, man on life support after boating accidents

Two more boating accidents. A boat flipped just south of Muskoka, on Lake Simcoe.

One man is in hospital on life support as of Sat. night, Aug. 8, 2009, after a high speed boat flipped near Walker's Point. He was rescued by people in the area, EMS was there in minutes, resuscitated and sent to hospital. He had on a life jacket, the the high speed rendered it useless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 more found in the water

Wed., August 5, 2009
A 9-year old was at the Bala Falls swimming with family.The father passed away at the scene trying to save her. The brother of the deceased passed away the following Friday, after be resuscitated in the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~

Water Safety - 3 drown

Monday, Aug. 3rd, 2009
Three drown while swimming at Moon River Falls. High water in a whirlpoot.
~~~~~~~~~

Be careful out there

On 01 August 2009

Members of Bracebridge OPP Marine Unit and the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit located the missing man in Loon Lake.

Deceased is a 46 year old John-Paul Farrell of Stouffville, Ontario.

~~~~~~~~~~

In March we lost a mother and daughter through the ice while on ATVs on the ice.
Bodies recovered from Muskoka lake
15 Mar 2009 ... Police have recovered the bodies of a mother and daughter from the cold waters of Lake Rosseau in Muskoka Lakes Township.

Fishing: the cause of more deaths

14 May 2009

In the decade from 1991-2000, there were 5,900 water-related deaths  in Canada; of that total, 889 died fishing. More fishers drown than swimmers. And more fishers die than power boaters, canoeists, scuba divers, sailors and kayakers combined.

Drowning Statistics 2008

We live in Canada, a country with a population of 31.6 million (statcan.ca), in the province of Ontario (12 million), in Muskoka (population of 57,500 people). With this size of population accidents occur. There are 8 million people living in the Golden Horseshoe, just south of us, an area that feeds our tourist industry. There are a further million people per weekend who might visit us here in the central and north areas of the province. For those unfamiliar with the water .... disaster can follow. Be safe. Be careful.

On August 25, 2008, at approximately 3:08 PM, the Bracebridge OPP Marine Unit was dispatched to McKay Lake in Bracebridge to a personal watercraft (PWC) accident.

The driver drove the PWC into a water hazard, was ejected and suffered head trauma. The victim, 62 year old Pauline Moore, a visitor from England, was transported to South Muskoka Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced deceased. A visitor to the Muskoka area, she hadn’t received any formal marine training and had only brief instruction on the operation of the watercraft prior to the accident.

Huntsville OPP is investigating the death of a 17 year old youth from Oshawa who went into the water of Lake Vernon on August 24, 2008. Huntsville OPP was assisted by the Under Water Search and Recovery Unit (USRU). On August 24, 2008, around 9:40 am the USRU located the victim, John Riberio, in 27 feet of water.

Aug. 19th, 2008, two more drowned in Kingston as a grandpa tried to save an eight-year old caught in an undertow.

CBC reports that on August 17th, a man drowned while fishing with a friend east of Peterborough. August 16th a 62-year old drowned while sailing. He did not have a life jacket on in calm conditions and police do not know why he drowned. August 15th a man stripped down to shorts in the downtown Toronto pier, and jumped in. An hour later they found his body.

On Sauble Beach, a 65-year old drowned in shallow water this past weekend. Family were on the shore.

On July 26, a beautiful day for a sail, a 16-year old Toronto boy drowned in branch of the Muskoka River, near Bracebridge. Another immortal 20-year old drowned while jumping off of a railway bridge near highway 11. I feel so badly for family, friends and EMS crews. This was the helicopter I saw on the weekend.

A 50-year old father tried to save his 15-year old daughter, who fell off of a dock on July 25th. He ended up in hospital trying to save her since she couldn't swim.

Another drowning, July 24, 2008, a 13-year old jumping from a PWC to another. What are they thinking? He was wearing a life jacket, says CITY.news, but still he drowned. High waves, overloaded vehicles, who knows? I think it time we regulate the size, the type of vehicles on smaller lakes, and educate those who scream up and down our tranquil waters.

July 15th, 2008, a young man has disappeared after he and his brother were kayaking. The lakes are susceptible to sudden winds and rains. Fortunately, he turned up, getting lost is not too hard with bays and shorelines looking the same. As I wrote previously, drowning in this age category are down (18 - 24), but one is too many.

On July 12th a 20-year old drowned , on the same beach as the July 24th incident, after taking a dinghy out from Wasaga Beach.

A 32-year old man was missing in Elgin County. He went under in Lake Erie. How tragic. His body was found by search crews.

Friday, July 11, a 15-year old drowned when boating to work on Lake Kaminiskeg Lake near Barry's Bay (200 km west of Ottawa).

In Ottawa-area cottage country, July 9, 2008, there were separate drownings of a toddler in a pool and a 50-year old man at a Gatineau marina.

On our narrow roads in Muskoka there is a risk that you can plunge into the lake. On July 3rd, three young men drowned due to speed and alcohol, after their car plunged into Lake Joe. Rick Smith's photo demonstrates said risk.

On Saturday, June 21, 2008, a young man (24 years old) died while boating in Bala Bay. Again, alcohol and carelessness.

The coast guard had to rescue boaters in Parry Sound on the June 29 weekend.

More recently, May 23, 2008, a 60 year old man went to sort out his dock in the high, cold, spring water. The police report says the empty canoe was found 2 km away, his body 100 m from the canoe. His wife of 65 years, alone and, no doubt, bereft.

Another man drowned while trying to rescue teen-aged kayakers on Lake Huron. The 2007 Canada Day long weekend had nine fatalities, seven on the roads and two deaths on the water.