MONROE (WWJ) - A 24-year-old Taylor man was hospitalized and treated for hypothermia after his kayak overturned in Lake Erie.
The incident unfolded around 7:18 p.m. Thursday in Brest Bay of Lake Erie, just offshore of Sterling State Park in Monroe. Police contacted the DNR after a deputy witnessed the kayaker, who was walleye fishing, overturn in the water. The kayaker also called 911 asking for help.
Conservation Officer Nick Ingersoll responded to the park and launched a patrol boat with the help of two fishermen. He eventually located the kayaker about a quarter of a mile offshore. The man was in the water, holding onto the kayak with one arm, waving his lit-up cellphone in the air with the other arm.
"The water was very choppy, making it difficult to clearly scan the water for the victim," Ingersoll said in a statement. "If it weren’t for the kayaker’s lit-up cellphone, he would have easily been mistaken for a log in the water."
At 7:38 p.m., Ingersoll reached the kayaker and instructed him to continue holding the kayak. The man was not wearing a lifejacket when he overturned and told Ingersoll that he was unable to find his lifejacket once he was in the water. Ingersoll positioned his patrol boat as close to the kayaker as he safely could and threw him a lifejacket.
"You’re going to have to trust me," Ingersoll said he told the man. "I need you to let go of the kayak and trust that I have you."
Once the man let go of the kayak, Ingersoll was able to secure him on the ladder of the boat.
"He was so cold, he couldn’t move," Ingersoll said about the kayaker. "He couldn’t step onto the ladder; he was frozen and exhausted."
Ingersoll was able to lift the man partially onto the boat. Once he was chest-level on the boat, Ingersoll reached the man’s pants and pulled him the rest of the way out of the water. The man had been in the water for a total of 20 minutes by the time Ingersoll rescued him.
"I instructed him to shed as much of his wet clothing as possible," said Ingersoll. "I gave him my jacket and told him that he’s going to be very cold, but I’m going to get him to shore, which seemed to calm him a little bit."
While Ingersoll drove the patrol boat back to shore, he continued to make conversation.
"I knew I had to keep him talking so he would stay conscious. I joked with him a little, and even got him to laugh," he said.
The DNR patrol boat recorded the temperature in the Brest Bay on Thursday evening, which ranged from 38 to 40 degrees.
A waiting ambulance took the man to the hospital at approximately 7:57 p.m. Ingersoll spoke to the victim’s girlfriend just before 9 p.m., who said that her boyfriend was being prepared for release from the hospital and will make a full recovery.
"This situation stresses the importance of wearing a lifejacket while on the water," Chief Gary Hagler, DNR Law Enforcement Division, said in a statement. "The DNR wants everyone to enjoy our natural resources, safely. Please don’t take safety for granted. Even in calm waters, kayakers and canoers can easily overturn."