A local woman witnessed the rescue of a man at the Ranier rapids on Monday night after a boat apparently capsized there.
Connie Cuthbertson said Tuesday morning taht she was biking near Seven Oaks when she saw boats grouped in the water on the far side of the island in the middle of the rapids.
She noticed that a man was in the water, wearing a lifejacket, and several other boaters were in the process of pulling him out.
His boat had capsized and its contents were floating in the water.
“I’m sure he looked fine when they pulled him in the boat,” Cuthbertson noted, adding she didn’t think he’d been injured.
“I’m glad he was wearing a lifejacket. No one could survive in those rapids without one,” she remarked.
“For me, standing on the shore and not able to do anything, it was comforting to see all the boats coming to help him.”
So far, the identity of the man—and his rescuers—remains a mystery.
Cuthbertson speculated perhaps they were U.S. anglers, who didn’t report the incident to the police or emergency services here, instead bringing the man to shore on the other side of the river.
The Fort Frances Fire Department said Tuesday morning that no one had contacted them about the incident. The local OPP could not be reached for comment prior to press time.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
