Brandon Twp.-Mondo Lopez is a strong swimmer and an experienced fisherman’confident in a boat or wading a Michigan river.
But the events on a calm, warm Sunday afternoon on a busy Bald Eagle Lake will alter those outdoor activities forever.
‘I told her, ‘I don’t need that life jacket,?? said Lopez, 62, who was visiting his sister Diane Tankersley, a Bald Eagle Lake resident. ‘I’m not going to drown out there. So Diane just threw the life jacket in the boat as I was leaving.?
Lopez’s watercraft was Tankersley’s 12 foot v-haul boat and he headed out in the lake where he’d fished many times.
‘Everyone on the lake was having a great time,? he said. ‘I was casting for bass and had sat in the boat for awhile and just stood up to stretch. The boat rocked and I went overboard off the side. It just happened so fast.?
The angle Lopez fell propelled the boat away from him.
‘When I came up the boat was about 10 feet away from me,? he said. ‘I was wearing Crocs (shoes) and they made it almost impossible to swim’they were so heavy. With the suction created from the shoes I could not take them off either although I tried.?
Lopez said that every move made toward the boat pushed it farther away.
‘I went under two times and really thought, ‘I’m going to drown?,? he said. ‘I was really scared and getting tired. The third time I tried to swim under water and come up beside the boat, like Shamu. I’m not sure how much longer I could have treaded water. I went down to the bottom of the lake and opened my eyes’the water was just so clear down there. I just kept saying, ‘I got to go back up to the surface.? At some point you just accept drowning.?
Lopez’s struggles were noticed on shore.
‘We keep an eye on Mondo when he’s out there fishing,? said Tankersley. ‘I could see him splashing around out there’then I could not see his head anymore. We were standing at the end of our dock, but we just could not get out there fast enough to help him.?
Neighbors along the lake could see Lopez in trouble.
‘I’m not sure who jumped in the boat first, but our neighbors on the lake were out there to help him so fast,? she said. ‘There was a little boy who jumped on his jet ski and three men on a pontoon boat pulled him up out of the water.?
Bald Eagle Lake resident Bob Miller, along with friend Wanda, raced out on their pontoon boat and Michael Costabile, a youth on a jet ski, were the first to reach Lopez.
‘They tossed me a life preserver and came along side of me,? said Lopez. ‘I was just so tired I was dead weight. Wanda held on to me until more help could pull me into the pontoon boat. And the Millers took me back to shore.?
Tankersley said many people responded to help her brother.
‘Wanda’s a nurse and she said Mondo was blue when they got to him,? she said. ‘I’m just so thankful for my neighbors. I don’t know everyone that helped him, but they saved my brother’s life I’m just so thankful. They just got out there and helped him.?
Lopez has some advice for fishermen or anyone heading out on the water.
‘Wear that life jacket,? he said. ‘Don’t just keep it in the boat with you? put it on. Also, those Crocs were impossible to swim in’never again will I go out in a boat with them on. I’m just so very grateful for everyone who came out and helped.?