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Boys rescued from Lake Brady Sheriff says teens lucky because water was in low 40s

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April 17, 2009

 

By Colin McEwen

Record-Courier staff writer

Two teenage boys were lucky Brian McBride and Brian Hawley decided to go fishing April 5 on Lake Brady.

In fact, the boys are lucky to be alive.

The 17- and 15-year-old boys from Brady Lake and Ravenna, were on a 15-foot canoe on the east side of the lake that afternoon when it tipped, plunging the boys into the lake’s frigid water.

Hawley and McBride were fishing nearby and spotted the boys. The fishermen watched as the boys fell from the canoe as it filled with water, then watched nervously as they began to swim for shore.

The two men, both of Kent, began moving immediately.

“They made it 15 feet and that was it,” said Hawley. “They started bobbing up and down in the water and within a couple of minutes, they were hollering for help. By the time we got there, we could barely see their mouths. As soon as they went overboard, we knew we’d have to help them.”

The men pulled the boys to safety on McBride’s small fishing boat.

“If we were any farther away we wouldn’t have been able to help them,” said Hawley. “It was a pretty scary situation. I’m just glad that we were there to help them. Thank god we were out there when it happened.”

The men’s quick thinking may have saved the boys’ lives, said Portage County Sheriff David Doak. The boys didn’t have any floatation devices onboard and the water temperature was likely in the low 40s, Doak said.

They were uninjured, and Doak is certain that is because of McBride and Hawley’s swift action.

“With those water conditions, they were very lucky,” said Doak. “Even with floatation devices, you should never let go of the boat — the worst thing you can do is let go of the boat.”

He said the boys were charged with failure to register a watercraft and failure to have a floatation device aboard. At this time of year, Doak said there usually are no boats out on the lake, and the boys were lucky to be alive.

“Thank God those guys were out there, and everything turned out well,” he said.

 




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 2 Total Comments
2.
    Posted by hangemhigh April 17, 2009
great job Brian and Brian! you both should should be very highly recognized !!!!

1.
    Posted by jd_12345 April 17, 2009
You're going to have to get a bigger boat, Brian, if you plan on carrying passengers.

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