On Saturday 1 August Dijith Jose and a friend took a jet ski out for some fun on the Bras d’Or Lake near Baddeck. Dijith was a 24-year-old former international student at Cape Breton University (CBU). He had recently completed his studies in supply chain management.
They were about one kilometre from shore when the jet ski overturned. Both Dijith and his friend were wearing life jackets. His friend swam to shore but Dijith stayed with the jet ski. Dijith’s body was found the next day on the shoreline near Ross Ferry.
Jose was from Kannur, a coastal city in the state of Kerala in southwestern India. He came to Canada in 2019 and had been living in Whitney Pier.
CBU held a memorial service for Dijith, which can be viewed here.
The South Indian Cultural Association launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral expenses and to repay the bank loan that Dijith’s family took to fund his studies.
Too many international student drowning deaths
This latest tragic incident, follows several other international student drowning deaths in Canada in 2021:
- 28 July – an international student drowned while swimming with friends in White Lake, BC
- 25 July – Mohammed Najib Sadek Kashem Chowdhury, a 25-year-old international student at the University of Ottawa, drowned on 25 July while swimming with friends near the Wakefield Covered Bridge on the Gatineau River.
- 27 June – Anmol Sharma, a 20-year-old international student at Canada’s Georgian College, went swimming with two friends at Port Sydney Falls, north of Toronto.
- 12 June – Gurpreet Singh Gill, a 22 year old international student, drowned at the Wasaga Beach Area 2.
A further four international students drowned in Canada in 2020.
Learn about water safety in Canada
On average over 450 people die in drowning incidents in Canada every year. International students are more likely to drown than others.
Don’t become a victim. Learn about water safety in Canada for international students. Take the FREE Water Safety Course.
It could save your life.
Source: CBC