By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
GRANT TOWNSHIP — A 73-year-old Rothbury man who was fishing on Lake 16 located near Clay Road and 80th Avenue fell off his boat, which caused it to capsize Monday, June 1, around 2:30 p.m.
He was in a non-motorized 12-foot-long row boat when he lost his balance and fell out of the boat with the boat capsizing over the top of him, said Deputy Mike Fillips, who is head of the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division.
“He was wearing a life jacket, and there were other life jackets in the boat,” said Deputy Fillips. “It was an inflatable life jacket, and it did not deploy initially. He was holding onto the boat. He was probably in 6 feet of water and was relatively close to shore — probably 20 yards or less from shore. Another subject — a male on the lake — paddled out in a kayak and towed him into shore.”
The man did not suffer any injuries.
“He said he was trying to turn around in the boat, and he fell over the side. When he fell over the side, it completely capsized.”
Fillips towed the boat back to shore.
Rothbury Police Department, Grant Township Fire Department, Michigan State Police, Life EMS, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and both the sheriff’s office marine division and road patrol responded to the scene.
The sheriff’s office responded to a similar situation Thursday, May 28, on Hart Lake. However, the 82-year-old fisherman drowned. Ronald Robbins was pronounced dead at the scene.
Robbins’ boat was also a 12-foot-long row boat, which capsized, said Fillips. He was not wearing a life vest.
Deputy Fillips urges residents and visitors to be safe on the water this summer and wear their life vests.
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