It was the Labour Day long weekend when Innisfil's Kim Read and her friends decided to go for a boat ride on the lake after work at the end of Innisfil Beach Road near Park Ramp B.
Her friend's son was heading off to university and thought it would be nice to celebrate with some wakeboarding and Jet-skiing.
"We zoomed out on the water (on their boat) and the oil gauge lit up like a Christmas tree," explained Read. The group of friends stopped to let the engine cool. "It was such a beautiful night, warm and sunny, so we decided to jump off the boat and swim a bit, then try (the boat) again."
Much to their dismany, the boat wouldn't start.
"But we weren't really concerned, there were some other boats out on the water, and it was still light out," she said.
As the sun began to set, the friends decided to start rowing the boat back to shore. They each grabbed an oar and began to paddle.
Only then did they realize just how far out into the water they were. Every time they paddled they'd drift back a little more.
"But we kept doing it," she said.
At this time, the boats they had been surrounded by were all gone, leaving them the only boat on the water.
After about an hour and a half of unsuccessful paddling, along came a Jet-skier.
"He was out on the water having a great time," described Read.
The young man on the Jet-ski saw the boaters and asked if they needed a tow back to shore.
"We tied up the rope to his Jet-ski and he slowly pulled us to shore," she said.
Read said the young man was so kind and courteous.
"He was so concerned his Jet-ski was going to get us wet...we were just happy to be towed in," she laughed.
Once on shore, the boaters offered the young man some money in exchange for his good deed, to which he refused, noting he had been in a similar situation earlier this summer.
"I thought to myself, what an amazing young man, he's not that old and knows what helping someone is all about," she said.
Unfortunately, Read and her friends never caught the young man's name until just this past weekend after she posted a 'missed connection' post on the Alcona Chats Facebook page, looking to express her gratitude to the kind stranger.
The young man's mother Jennifer O'Leary saw the post, and commented that it was her 20-year-old son Ryan who had helped them that day.
Ryan O'Leary had been out on the water that afternoon, and said he saw the boaters stranded and paddling.
"I was out maybe for five minutes and was going to go out to Snake Island and right as I was going that way I saw this boat paddling," he explained. "I went by them at first but turned around (to see if they needed help)."
"They were pretty far out," said Ryan.
Ryan is no stranger to the waters, he grew up on a boat, and just recently got himself a Sea-doo after getting out of boating a few years ago.
"I'd expect someone else to do that for me," he said. "A lot of people are nice out there."
Read wanted to commend Ryan for his act of kindness, and was happy to be able to give him a proper thank-you after reconnecting through Facebook.
"During this horrible time of COVID, it is so nice to have people who care," said Read.
