HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — A 28-year-old Coopersville man was hospitalized for hypothermia after his kayak overturned Thursday afternoon, April 23, 2020, in Lake Michigan near Ludington, according to Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials.
The kayaker was using a trolling motor and a heavy battery to propel his kayak while attempting to fish. He later told law enforcement officers that he overturned when his kayak took on water from a wave.
Mason County Central Dispatch received a 911 call just before 12:30 yesterday afternoon about an overturned kayaker struggling to stay afloat near where the Pere Marquette River flows into Lake Michigan.
Michigan DNR Conservation Officer Kyle Publiski responded, with Mason County Sheriff’s Deputies Sgt. Adam Lamb and Spencer Lindbloom. The officers met at the Ludington Marina, where Publiski’s DNR patrol boat was docked. Publiski drove the boat about 150 yards offshore from the Loomis Street Boat Launch, and the officers saw the man struggling to keep his head above water.
The man had been in the water for about 10 minutes. He was not wearing a life jacket. Publiski said the man displayed early signs of hypothermia; the water temperature was 42 degrees, and the air was 43 degrees.
Lamb and Lindbloom pulled the man aboard, returned to shore, where an EMS crew transported the man to the hospital.
“Conservation officers are equipped to be successful in rescues like this because of their skills, training and quality equipment that is readily available to them,” said Chief Gary Hagler, DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Publiski was prepared to assist with this incident because he had prepped his DNR patrol boat earlier in the season, which allowed him to quickly respond to the emergency call. If you choose to go out on the water, please be aware of, and prepared for, the water conditions and always wear your life jacket.”
Fishing, boating and kayaking are allowed under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “stay home” executive order.
People are encouraged to enjoy the outdoors locally and maintain proper social distancing of at least six feet.
Hagler said that DNR conservation officers follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended precautions for law enforcement officers to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.
Michigan conservation officers are fully commissioned state peace officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety and protect residents by providing general law enforcement duties and lifesaving operations in the communities they serve. Learn more at Michigan.gov/ConservationOfficers.
