Milton man credits Halton police marine unit after near-drowning off Burlington Beach

A Milton man says he’s lucky to be alive after Halton police’s marine team pulled him from the water off of Burlington Beach, and narrowly saved him from drowning. 

Now he’s encouraging everyone to learn how to swim and be cautious in the water, especially as the warm weather approaches, so no one else has to go through what he and his family did. 

“It’s literally a miracle that I’m standing here in front of you today, because usually we don’t hear stories like that,” says drowning survivor Reetinder Sandhu.

It’s a day that Sandhu will remember for the rest of his life. It was Aug. 5, 2024 when the man and his wife took their two children — now three and five years old — to the beach along the Burlington waterfront.

Sandhu was lying on a water inflatable, and didn’t realize the tide had pulled him deeper into the lake.

“As soon as I jumped in, I went all the way in, actually really deeper than I should have because the water went all the way up past my height – and right away I realized: ‘wrong mistake,’” recalls Sandhu. 

Sandhu says, at the time, he had just started learning how to swim, and ended up slipping under the water.

“In those moments, I thought about my kids, my wife, my mom. And I realized this is probably it, I’m never going to see them again. This is not really how I’m supposed to leave this world,” Sandu says.

Thankfully, Halton police’s marine unit happened to be nearby already — something the deputy chief calls a “one in a million chance.”

“They immediately responded. One of our members jumped into the water, pulled Mr. Sandhu out of the water completely lifeless. They pulled him onto this very boat, and they began CPR while they were on the boat,” says Deputy Chief Jeff Hill.

Sandhu spent a week in the ICU at Joseph Brant Hospital, and months recovering at home after that.

While his recovery may be a “one in a million,” police say they receive “countless” calls for drowning incidents just like this one each summer.

Halton police have already received one marine call this year, and say those calls become much more common as the weather gets warmer and people are out in the water.

“If you’re not a strong swimmer, you should consider taking swimming lessons. You shouldn’t trust your life to pool noodles. If you’re not a strong swimmer, you should have personal floatation devices,” says Deputy Chief Hill. 

That’s a lesson Sandhu knows well, and he, his wife and his kids are all currently taking swimming lessons. He also had the chance to meet one of the men who saved his life a year and a half ago.

“I’m told all the time that it was their job and there was nothing special that they did, but for me, I’m alive because of them. That’s all I can say. And I can never thank them enough for the rest of my life,” adds the near-drowning survivor.