A Saskatchewan teen is being hailed a hero after saving a man and his eight-year-old son from drowning.
Jacob Boissonneault, 14, dreams of being a professional soccer player when he gets older -- and that’s why he started training under coach Donald Munro three years ago. The two have now developed a friendship, and earlier in July, Munro invited Boissonneault on a family trip to Greig Lake in northern Saskatchewan.
While there, they took a boat out into the middle of the lake with Munro’s son, Cohen.
“So we’re at the lake and we’re about 100 metres off our cabin, swimming around and just having fun,” Munro told CTV Saskatoon from the gym where he works with Boissonneault. “No problems, nice sunny day. But it was pretty wavy.”
When those waves took Cohen under, Munro jumped into the water to save his son. A strong current, however, made it difficult for both of them to stay afloat.
“And I was like, ‘No way I’m going to die,’” Munro recalled. “I felt like this is it. It took everything that I had to keep my kid’s head above water. And then, so I got my head above the water and I screamed at Jacob. I’m like, ‘Jacob -- start the boat!’”
Despite having never driven a boat before, Boissonneault got the engine going.
“I must have had an angel,” Boissonneault said. “Just something watching over me, to help me steer the boat.”
Boissonneault managed to turn the boat around and drive towards Munro and his son. When he got close enough, he lifted them both to safety.
“He’s like 280, 300 pounds and I had to pull him up,” Boissonneault said of Munro. “(I) grabbed his left arm with (my) right elbow and pulled him up like that.”
Thankfully, no one sustained injuries in the incident.
Munro says it’s amazing that someone he has been training was able to use their strength like that.
“I have this little guy that I’ve been mentoring and being his buddy for three years, showing him everything that I know,” Munro said. “And he turned around and saved my life.”
With a report from CTV Saskatoon’s Stephanie Villella
