KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A man who fell through the ice on Kenosha County’s Hooker Lake is expected to survive after a dramatic rescue that also sent a a sheriff’s deputy into the icy water.
The incident happened Sunday evening on a pond east of Hooker Lake. The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office says a 57-year-old Salem Lakes man fell through the ice and couldn’t get out.
Kenosha County Deputy Colin Coultrip was the first to arrive and saw the man about 75 yards from shore, thrashing in the water. A bystander said he’d already been there for about 20 minutes and seemed to be getting weaker.
Coultrip found a canoe nearby and went out to the man. He was trying to get him to come to the ice edge when the canoe then broke through the ice. Sheriff’s officials said Coultrip maneuvered the canoe to the man and was able to pull the man, who was helpless from the cold water, inside.
Coultrip was trying to return to shore when the man began panicking, causing the canoe to capsize and break through the thin ice, sending the man and Coultrip into water that was nearly 6 feet deep. Coultrip swam to the edge of the ice and crawled onto it, before coaching the man to do the same before the Salem Lakes Fire Department arrived.
The man was brought to a local hospital where he is expected to recover. Coultrip was not injured, sheriff’s officials said.
