Rescue – Ed’s Story
This event happened on July 7, 2001. I had just departed from a friend’s boat dock and was idling along at less that 10 MPH and about two miles away from the location where the event occurred. I saw flashes of bluish-white light coming from a distant shoreline. My first thought was that it was related to Fourth of July weekend fireworks. On second thought, those flashes were different and I detected they were electrical in nature coming from a sailboat mast in contact with an overhead power line. The flashes stopped and I could see that the mast had fallen into the water, thus breaking contact with the power line. I accelerated as fast as my boat could go to the scene.
What I found was a disaster. The owner of the sailboat was standing in about four feet of water with a young boy in his arms. The boy was unconscious. The boat was beside the dock without the mast with the sails draped over the side. Another man (who I would later learn was the boy’s father) was face down in the water between the boat and the dock. I jumped out of my boat onto the dock feeling safe the power was no longer in contact with the boat or dock.
The owner handed the boy over to me and ran to the cottage to call 911. Not knowing CPR, I fell back on my Boy Scout training in artificial resuscitation. I laid the boy on his stomach and began to pump his ribs. A large volume of water came spewing out of his mouth followed by smaller amounts each time I pumped. The boy moved his leg, giving me hope that he was still alive. Not long after, the boy came around and was able to run to the cottage for help.
I went now to the father, still in the water beside the dock. He was a man of average size most likely weighing about 160 pounds. Standing erect on the side of the dock I bent down, grabbed him under the armpits and lifted him onto the dock. That took more than a shot of adrenalin! (Who was there?) About that time a nurse from another boat joined me in an attempt to revive the father. Soon the rescue squad showed up. Using CPR and defibrillators they were unsuccessful in reviving him. A helicopter soon arrived with paramedics and continued resuscitation efforts again without success.
At a public Department of Natural Resources meeting, I was given a Certificate of Appreciation and the word Hero was mentioned. My response was that there had been divine intervention involved. The timing of my being in the area, understanding that the electrical current was severed, knowing artificial resuscitation, and somehow mustering the strength to lift that man straight up out of the lake water were all indicative that a source of strength greater than my own had assisted me.