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PdC Coast Guard Auxiliary crew prevents drowning

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Steve Gress (left), coxswain, and Dan Brewer, crewman, are pictured aboard the 22-foot Kaylee-Annie pontoon. (USCG Auxiliary photo)

By Correne Martin

Two crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary-Prairie du Chien Flotilla were in the right place at the right time Thursday, Sept. 10, when they observed a man fall from a Winneshiek Marina dock and stepped in to save his life.

Coxswain Steve Gress and crew member Joanie Dickerson, of the 22-foot Kaylee-Annie pontoon, were returning from patrol when they saw a couple walking down the dock. They witnessed the woman bend over to pick up something when her husband tripped over her and fell head first into the harbor. The man, who appeared to be in his 70s but was not identified by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, disappeared from their sight under the water, which is about 12 feet deep in that area, Gress said.

“When we got there, all we saw was his shoe floating. It was very scary,” Gress recalled. “Then something white started to surface and I grabbed his shirt and pulled him up. He was conscious and communicating. He had been able to hold his breath.”

Such quick action and clear thinking likely prevented the man from drowning, Gress believes.

“The space there is about 4 feet square and there’s a pontoon right next to it,” he said. “He’s very fortunate he didn’t hit his head. When he went beneath the surface, he kept coming up under the dock. A person can become disoriented and panic in a situation like that.”

Once the crew pulled the man up, their adrenaline turned to a focus on what Coast Guard members are trained to do. “We wrapped a line around his chest and under his armpits, talking to him the whole time to make sure he was all right,” Gress explained. “When we got him out, we then did a quick assessment of him. He had a scrape on his chin but he declined medical attention.”

After a slight rest, the man “gracefully” thanked the Auxiliary members who came to his rescue and departed.

In his three years as a member, Gress said he hasn’t personally been involved with rescuing someone from the river. However, he said he and Dickerson, a five-year crew member, are extremely proud they were able to use their training to turn a potentially tragic situation into one from which others can learn.

Prairie du Chien Flotilla spokesman A.J. Sullivan concurred: “A dock can be a dangerous place. The motion of the water affects one’s equilibrium and tosses the dock about. Add to that the normal rough and weathered construction and you have a situation requiring careful and attentive walking. At the water’s edge, the result of one misstep can be disastrous.”

The Auxiliary recommends wearing a life jacket whenever around the water.

Note: The date this incident occurred, Sept. 10, is different from what was originally reported by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

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