An 18-year-old woman riding on a kneeboard behind a personal watercraft was rescued by a group of boaters that included an off-duty Huron County Sheriff’s Office deputy on Wednesday night after she began to suffer hypothermia.

According to a press release from Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson, Deputy Jackie Cregeur and her family were passengers on a boat owned by Port Austin’s Pete Monaco when she spotted two people on a personal watercraft waving for help in the distance.

As the boat approached the personal watercraft, the group spotted a third person in the water next to it. 

The two people on the watercraft, a Rochester man and his 20-year-old niece, told the group they had been pulling the 20-year-old’s sister on a knee board in an area about three miles north of the Port Crescent Day Use Park in Hume Township in 35 feet of water when they crossed over the tow rope, which got caught up in the watercraft’s propulsion intake and stalled the machine. The trio had been adrift for about 40 minutes, unable to get the rope free.

The group aboard the boat immediately noticed the 18-year-old was hypothermic and physically brought her aboard the boat because the woman was shaking uncontrollably, according to the press release.

Once on the boat, she was wrapped in towels while other crew members quickly helped dislodge the rope from the watercraft so the man could head back to his shoreline cottage. The two women were then taken back to Port Austin, where the man and mother of the girls met them at the dock. 

“The boat crew was thanked for rescuing them because it was believed the 18-year-old would have never made the night if they hadn’t been found,” Hanson said. “A pontoon boat had traveled by them earlier, but for whatever reason never stopped to help.” 

Hanson wanted to remind boaters they have a duty to lend aid in situations like the one that occurred Wednesday night. 

“The personal watercraft crew was also right in their assumption that the 18-year-old would have never survived the night,” he said. “Even though we are basically in the middle of summer, prolonged exposure to the lake’s upper-60s water temperature will cause hypothermia. 

“Given the victim’s thin build in this case, it is believed one more hour in the water could have been fatal. The boat crew reported that she had warmed up at last contact with the victim enough that she wouldn’t be seeking medical treatment. Fortunately, the incident ended on a good note.”