Police say a boater hit the swimmer and didn’t stop to help; 22-year-old swimmer was airlifted to Toronto hospital with serious injuries
A swimmer suffered “life-threatening” injuries after a boater crashed into him on Skeleton Lake in Muskoka Lakes Township Saturday evening.
Officers from Bracebridge OPP, along with Muskoka paramedics and firefighters from the Muskoka Lakes Fire Department, received “several emergency” calls from members of the public reporting the boating collision.
“Callers reported that a boat had collided with a swimmer and people on shore had managed to bring the victim out of the water,” notes a media release from the OPP.
First responders were on scene quickly and the victim, a 22-year-old Georgina man, was rushed to hospital and then air-lifted to a Toronto area hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police located the operator of the vessel and have arrested and charged 39-year-old Richard Moore of Niagara Falls, Ont., with the following:
Impaired operation causing bodily harm
Failure/refusal to comply with demand (breath) – bodily harm
Fail to stop at accident resulting in bodily harm
Failure to comply with release order
He was held in custody and will appear for a bail hearing in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge today.