New Year's Eve canoe mishap mobilizes rescuers

A community of rescuers came together on New Year's Eve after a man ended up in the water while canoeing alone in eastern P.E.I.

It was a challenge to physically locate the three of them.- Cpl. Alexis Triantafillou

The 56-year-old was on Lairds Pond at the head of the Morell River. After falling out of his canoe he was able to make it to shore and use his cellphone to call a friend.

RCMP were on the scene about 15 minutes after receiving the call for help at 6:30 p.m., and were joined by Island EMS and the Cardigan Fire Department, but they did not know where the man had come ashore.

Dark and isolated

Meanwhile, the two sons of the man's friend, aged 14 and 19, who had been searching along the shore, did locate him. They were doing their best to keep him warm in the sub-zero temperatures, and eventually guided RCMP to where they were.

"It was dark and it was isolated," said RCMP Cpl. Alexis Triantafillou.

"It was a challenge to physically locate the three of them."

With the guidance of the rescuers, the man was able to walk out of the woods.

Apart from being very cold and wet, the man was uninjured, say RCMP. He was examined at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and released.

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