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In April 2009, then 75 yr-old Edward Fillingham rescued Amanda Roberts, then 22, Kiefer Hockey,17, and Doug Daury, 27, (not pictured) from drowning in the frigid waters of Lake Ontario in his canoe.
All images © 2011 Kate Melton. All rights reserved.
Two years ago, a selfless act by an elderly man with Parkinson’s disease saved three young people from drowning in the cold April waters of Lake Ontario, at Henderson Harbor, NY. As the rescuer Ed Fillingham told it, when I met him on an assignment for Guideposts magazine, on cold and rainy October 2nd, with a north wind blowing, he said, “well the conditions on the lake on that day weren’t much different than they are right now. But, the water temperature was 41 degrees in April”. We never went on to discuss why the three young people were out on the water in those conditions, (apparently that was another story in and of itself) but, the fact that they were and what he did to save their lives was truly incredible and inspiring.
Amanda Roberts, her boyfriend Kiefer Hockey and their friend Doug Daury, decided to take a pedal boat out on Lake Ontario in April, 2009. Without wearing life preservers, the three set out and peddled into the harbor’s waters from the public boat launch. They peddled to about 500 yards to just off the front point of Edward’s property in Windswept Shores when they experienced trouble. With the rough conditions on the lake that day, their boat started taking on water and eventually capsized, sending the three into the 41-degree water. Struggling to climb on top of their capsized boat, the trio started frantically yelling for help. Fortunately, Edward’s daughter Beth McMahon, who was visiting her parents lakeside home that day, heard the young people’s cries for help and yelled to parents that they were going to drown. Patricia, Edward’s wife, called 911. The Coast Guard was dispatched to have a helicopter fly in to hoist the three from the water. However, their fleet of Helicopters at the time were on a training mission in Buffalo. Realizing that time was of the essence and he needed to act quickly (the body’s organs start failing when its core temperature falls to hypothermic levels), he took matters into his own hands and without a plan, set out in the family canoe, paddling towards the boaters. Once he arrived, he was able to pull Amanda up far enough for her to hold onto one side of the canoe. He didn’t attempt to haul her in completely, fearing that the canoe would surely tip over. Kiefer Hockey, Amanda’s boyfriend, was able to grab hold of the other side of the canoe. Doug Daury, their friend, went under the water. They couldn’t find him. He was surely lost. But, miraculously, he resurfaced at one point and when he did, Edward grabbed him around his neck with his right arm, keeping his head above water, and with his left arm, used the paddle to maneuver the canoe towards shore. ” I could feel her hand slipping away from me,” he recalled.”She wanted to give up. I kept telling her, ‘Don’t do that.’ ” Edward himself, who has Parkinson’s disease, didn’t think he could make it, but, he believed that despite his body feeling the need to let go of Doug, a sudden rush of adrenaline may have given him the ability to hold on. All four made it back to shore, at which point the emergency responders were already there to treat the boaters for hypothermia. As the EMTs discovered, their core body temperatures had indeed plummeted to a life-threatening 91 degrees Fahrenheit.
Edward Fillingham was a hero. Henderson’s Hero. He was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard Silver Lifesaving Medal. Today, At 77 years of age, Edward is frail but spirited. He talks about that day with such serenity in his voice, as my associate and myself packed up our gear from the shoot. I could also sense his pride. He is a quiet, humble man. On that day, he did something quite extraordinary. As far as the others, Amanda and Kiefer are engaged to be married and their friend Doug Daury now lives out in Colorado.
As a photographer, I am truly lucky. I get to meet incredible people and tell their amazing stories through my photographs.
All images © 2012 Kate Melton. All rights reserved.
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