NORTH BAY -- An eight-year-old boy in North Bay is being recognized by the Ontario Provincial Police after his quick thinking saved the life of his grandfather.
On Wednesday morning, OPP officers invited Trent and his grandfather, David Oley, for a boat ride and tour of the marine unit, in hopes that it will remind the eight year old that though it was a scary situation, what he did was brave.
Oley said he and Trent were on a fishing trip a few kilometres north of North Bay, and began heading back to shore.
"By the time we got back to shore, I was pretty exhausted, pretty worn out and we sat there for a while," he said.
Oley was so exhausted, he couldn't get out of the boat. That's when Trent sprung into action.
"He got my cellphone and called his mother, and eventually his mother called 911," Oley said.
Trent ran back and forth between the road and the boat – about 400 metres – occasionally splashing water on his grandfather to keep him alert.
"At our camp we do a lot of survival stuff almost, and a lot of that helped me with it," the young hero said.
"For an eight year old, it’s pretty incredible, you know, to do what he did," Oley said.
The OPP wanted to recognize him for his fast action and calm approach to the crisis while he was waiting for help to arrive. So on Wednesday, they took him and his grandfather on a tour of the marine unit and a ride out on Lake Nipissing.
"We wanted to recognize Trent and give him a little reward so he remembers this event as being a positive thing, as opposed to a traumatic thing," said Carlo Berardi of the OPP.
Oley said just a week before the incident, Trent was taught how to use a cellphone in case of an emergency. If that hadn’t happened, he said the outcome could have been much worse.
