Mike Harrison, 61, and Mike Washburn, 53, were treated at hospitals and released. Cherokee Rescue Squard members found the body of Jimmy R. Todd, 59, Wednesday morning, Aug. 2.
Janice Maddox, a physical education teacher at Centre Middle School, said she and a friend, Ora White, were JetSkiing on the lake when they saw a boat overturned in the water.
“I guess it was around 6 or 6:15 p.m., somewhere around in that time frame,” said Maddox. “We got past the ramp toward where the Leesburg Bridge was in sight of where we were. Ora saw this boat overturned capsized in the water and then the guy starting yelling, ‘Help, help, my back, somebody help me, help me!’ Ora had not driven a JetSki that much but I said, ‘Ora, you’ve got the JetSki and I dove in and went over to the guy and he was holding on to the shaft of the motor just below the propeller. And he was holding on and he kept saying, ‘Get the boat to shore, get the boat to shore!’ And I said, ‘You know, you are not going to get this boat to shore.’ It was just way too heavy.’
“So I said, ‘Are there any more of you?’ And he said, ‘Yes, two under the boat.’ So I told Ora to go get some help and get them to call 911, so she did and went to some of my neighbors she had seen.”
It was Allen Bernstein who called 911, Maddox said.
“I started to surface dive under when all of a sudden before I started to go under, another man came up on the right side of the boat and had a severe gash in his forehead,” said Maddox. “So I said to the guy, ‘Can you reach him?” and he did and brought him around toward me. I grabbed him and brought him up in front of me, so now we’ve got two behind the boat, one holdingon to the motor and the other one I had on the boat supporting him and I was able to grab hold of his belt. Neither one had a lifejacket on. I kept telling them to ‘Hold on, hold on, Help is coming.”
Valerie and Allen Bernstein’s sister came down in their JetSkis along with Ora White. “We had my JetSki and two others that came to the rescue and I stayed there.”
The lake was uncharacteristically silent that day, they said. White said she located neighbor Valerie Bernstein, who was celebrating her birthday with visiting sister Lori Lutz and friend, Janice D’Ausilio.
“Janice looked at me and told me to go and get help,” said White. “I took off and went past the bridge and up ahead. I didn’t see anybody out, but I went toward where she (Janice) lives because the neighbors were out. They were getting on their JetSkis and they were just getting ready to go out for a ride and they saw me pull up. I told them there was a boat wreck down there and that we needed to get ahold of the water patrol.”
“Of the two women on the JetSki one of them happened to be a nurse,” said White. “They were each on the JetSki. They took off once they heard there was somebody injured up there. They were gone, they were on their way. Valerie got on the JetSki that I was on and I am not experienced at riding, so she drove, we went back up there. When we got there, Janice was still there helping that guy hold on.”
Lutz works as a corrections officer at a facility in upstate new York where Janice is a nurse. She also served as a medic in the Gulf War.
Janice took off her T-shirt and wrapped it around the head of the bleeding man.
“Fortunately, it all worked out for the people in the boat wreck because Janice had been medical training in the Army and Navy Reserves,” said White. “She sprung into action because she pretty much knew what she was doing. Then there’s the other lady, Janice, the nurse from New York, and the other woman, Lori Lutz, who is also from New York. There was a lot of talent out there to help those guys.”
“We all played a little part in helping them out,” said Lutz. “Janice holding them up by their belts. She said it was just such a joy to just see our two little Red Waverunners coming up the stream there. Unfortunately, we could not find that other man.”
Lutz says the experience won’t stop her from enjoying Weiss Lake.
“This is a first-time experience for all of us I think, but it is not going to keep us from coming back,” said Lutz. “It is a beautiful lake. We did what anybody would do. Any good citizen would help anybody in their time of need. These poor men, I just wish they had some life vests on.”
“It teaches you one thing,” said Lutz. “If you are going to be trolling in deep water, you should definitely have a life vest handy. You never know when a rock is going to come out and flip. Accidents do happen. At least everybody had the peace of mind to play their role, do what they could. ... Sometimes other people being around is reassuring. If it wasn’t for Janice and Ora finding them, God only knows what would have happened to them. Janet’s nursing instincts just kicked right in! The Cherokee Rescue Squad was fabulous. They got there as quick as they could.”
“I’ve never seen the lake so quiet,” said Bernstein. “There was not another boat in sight. There was not a person in sight this whole time until we saw the lights for the rescue squad. It was a blessing. We just couldn’t believe it. Had Jan Maddox and her friends not happened upon this, had we not been right there and come, it gave me chills to think what would have happened.”
“I’m glad we were just in the right spot at the right time and that these ladies all had this medical training,” said Bernstein. “We were just glad we could be there and help.”
“We felt real bad we couldn’t get to the other guy,” said D’Ausilio. “That was a shame. But we send our regards to the family.”
“I’ve always tried to drive cautiously,” said Maddox. “I have taken that water safety course. I’ve done a lot of medical training with the Army and Navy Reserves. And I have had a senior lifesaving course, so all that kind of came into play that day because the life saving skills. I was worried about shock for one thing, especially with the guy bleeding .. luckily help came and I just kept talking to them, ‘Hold on, Help is on its way,’ and luckily it all worked out. I am just sorry about that third guy.”
Maddox said this experience has reiterated to her “To be real cautious and keep your eyes open when you are on the lake. You never know what can happen when you think you are out there and it is going to be fun and a joy ride. You’ve just got to keep your eyes open and think safety first. I want to add too that my Red Cross skills have come in handy. All I could think of was CPR, check your victim, Call and then Care. .. You hope you never have to use it but it sure does come in handy when something like that does happen.”
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