This happened Saturday afternoon when the water was much rougher due to high winds. They spotted a 51-year-old man in the water next to his fishing boat.
“It was really, everything happened really fast, a crazy situation,” said Jake Ustorf. “Saw this man hanging off the back of the boat, just his head above the water.”
Ustorf and Taylor Jones stripped down to underwear and dove in while two other friends stayed on shore. The man —identified as Ricky Duncan of West Chester — they helped save had been in the water for 30 minutes.
“He was really slow to talk back, he was really cold I could tell,” Jones said. “He couldn’t have swum, no way, how cold that water was, no way.”
Firefighters believe the man fell backwards out of his boat. He did not have a life jacket.
FIRST REPORT
A 51-year-old man was rescued from the lake at Caesar’s Creek State Park Saturday afternoon.
The incident occurred at approximately 3 p.m., according to Captain Daniel Cox with the Ohio Department Natural Resources.
The man was alert and conscious on the way to a nearby hospital, Cox said.
A boater pulled the man to safety near the Wellman boat ramp off Oregonia Road.
Cox said they are still investigating how the incident occurred.
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