DNR officer saves woman who was in Michigan river for 45 minutes after kayak overturned

Woman showed signs of extreme hypothermia

DNR Conservation Officer Kyle Publiski (WDIV)

LAKE COUNTY, Mich. – A Department of Natural Resources conservation officer saved a woman Saturday after she fell into a river while kayaking and became hypothermic.

According to the DNR, the 30-year-old woman was in the Pere Marquette River in Lake County for about 45 minutes after her kayak overturned. The woman was with a friend, who was able to make it to shore.

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Officer Kyle Publiski found the woman clinging to a fallen tree in the water.

“She kept saying that she couldn’t swim and that she didn’t have a life jacket,” Publiski said. “She also said that she could not feel her hands or feet.”

He tossed a throw bag, which is a bag with a rope in it, to the woman and told her to wrap the rope under her arms and around her torso. He also threw a life jacket to her, but she could only get one arm into it.

When Law Enforcement Officer Doug Beringer, of the U.S. Forest Service, and Sgt. Brad Nixon and Deputy Craig Mayo, of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, arrived, they helped Publiski pull the rope, but the woman let go of the tree, was pulled downstream by a current and got stuck on a log.

Publiski went into the water and got the woman unstuck from the log and back to shore.

“From the time that I arrived at the river to the time that we were able to get the woman safely to shore, it was about six to seven minutes total,” Publiski said.

The woman showed extreme signs of hypothermia and couldn't walk. The first responders put her in a Stokes basket and carried her about a quarter-mile, up a 5-foot embankment, to an ambulance.

“Conservation Officer Kyle Publiski made a quick decision to enter the river to help this woman, risking his own life to save her,” said Chief Gary Hagler, with the DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Conservation officers receive extensive water training and are prepared to respond to situations like this. I’m glad that Publiski and the other law enforcement agencies were able to help in what could have been a tragic situation.”