Fishermen Rescued After Hours Clinging to Capsized Boat in Frigid Lake

The fishing trip on Lake Erie went sideways fast—and still ended about as well as it could have, Fox 8 reports. Three men, all related to one another, in a 17-foot aluminum boat were caught in a sudden Tuesday storm near Kelleys Island, where 5- to 7-foot waves flipped their vessel around 3:30pm, authorities say. An 81-year-old and 78-year-old managed to hang onto the capsized boat; a 65-year-old drifted away. They spent several hours in 51-degree water before witnesses finally spotted the two men clinging to the boat and called for help around 6:30pm, CBS News reports.

Kelleys Island first responders and the Erie County Sheriff's Office alerted the Coast Guard, which pulled the two older men from the water around 7pm—only then learning a third man was missing. A Coast Guard helicopter later found him after roughly five hours in the lake; he'd survived with a seat cushion lashed to his wrist in a figure eight so rescuers could spot him. All three were hospitalized with severe hypothermia and shock. None had been wearing life jackets, a fact Kelleys Island Police Chief James Bartus underscored in urging boaters to suit up, saying the outcome could have been much worse.