A 77-year-old Rochester Hills man was found unresponsive in Paint Lake on Sunday afternoon after apparently falling from a dock while trying to launch a boat, according to investigators. First responders pulled him from the water roughly 20 feet from shore and worked to revive him before paramedics rushed him to a local hospital.
The call came in around 1:20 p.m. Sunday, sending Oakland County Sheriff's deputies, the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team, and the Oxford Township Fire Department to the Paint Lake public boat launch, according to FOX 2 Detroit. Responders located the man unresponsive in the water a short distance from the dock and immediately began pulling him to safety.
First responders performed lifesaving measures on scene until paramedics arrived and transported him for further treatment, per the same report. As of the station's report, the man's current condition remained unknown.
Investigators Say Fall From Dock Led to Near-Drowning
Investigators believe the man fell from the dock while in the process of launching his boat, the station notes. He was not wearing a life jacket at the time, and alcohol was not considered a contributing factor in the incident, according to the report. The Oakland County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fall.
Michigan's Department of Natural Resources maintains detailed guidance on who is required to wear a life jacket and what type of personal flotation device must be aboard a boat, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The agency also notes on its boating safety page that 87% of people who drowned in a boating-related fatality were not wearing a life jacket, underscoring the stakes of the gear's absence in scenarios like Sunday's.
Earlier Oakland County Water Incident This Year
The Paint Lake rescue follows another serious boating incident in Oakland County earlier this year. On August 25, a high-speed boat crash on Oxbow Lake in White Lake Township killed a 71-year-old White Lake man and injured a 56-year-old Taylor man, according to CBS News Detroit. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office said that boat had been traveling at an excessively high rate of speed before it became airborne, struck the water on its side, and sank.
In that case, nearby boaters pulled the injured passenger from the water and he was taken to McLaren Oakland Hospital for treatment, while investigators later determined neither man involved had been wearing a personal flotation device. The Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the deceased boater's death an accidental drowning following an autopsy. Both incidents were handled in part by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team, though the Paint Lake case remains under active investigation with no additional findings released.
