Wasaga Beach drowning victims remembered as 'full of adventure and curiosity'
CBC News | Posted: July 10, 2017 7:10 PM | Last Updated: July 10, 2017
Dilvinder Lakhanpal, 27 and Nimit Sharma, 26 were found dead on Saturday afternoon
The friends and relatives of two men who drowned in Wasaga on the weekend are remembering them as caring people who were "full of adventure and curiosity for the world."
The bodies of Caledon, Ont. resident Dilvinder Lakhanpal, 27, and Nimit Sharma, 26, of Collingwood, Ont. were found in rough water at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River on Saturday after an hour-long search.
Yama Qaderi, a friend of the two, said they grew up together and loved one another like brothers.
"They were both extremely smart and career driven and were just starting their lives," said Qaderi, who met Lakhanpal and Sharma in university. "I couldn't imagine anyone having a bad thing to say about either one of them."
According to Qaderi, the men attended Brock University together but worked in Toronto. He added that both were very good swimmers and were strong athletes.
"Just seems like the waters were just too rough for anyone that day," he said. Neither of the victims were wearing life-jackets at the time of recovery, said the OPP.
"They traveled all over and explored different continents," said Qaderi. "They were two of the most generous and loving guys [you'd] ever meet … They were young but lived full lives."
Naeem Ally, a man who identified himself as a friend of both men, said their deaths have put his life into perspective.
"When not just one, but two of your friends die, it makes you re-evaluate all the daily decisions you make," he wrote in a public Facebook post.
Satinder Shergill, a relative of Lakhanpal, writing to CBC Toronto from India — Lakhanpal's birth country — said he was a "happy go lucky kid." He added that Lakhanpal was a "marvellous swimmer" and rower.
"He was the diamond of everyone's eye and was deeply regarded and looked upon," said Shergill. "He proved that tough times never last but tough people do."
According to Sharma's Facebook profile, he began working as a manager at Deloitte in Toronto last August.
In a statement, Tony Cocuzzo, a partner at Deloitte, said "we are shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our friend and colleague, Nimit. His family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers."
The OPP said "wind and waves were problematic" at the time of the search, with swells exceeding two metres. Alcohol was not a factor in the men's deaths.