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The
Officers, Directors and Members of On
January 13, 2008, with the water and air temperature in the upper 50’s
and two-foot chop in the afternoon on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans,
Louisiana, three young sailors headed out for a sail on a 19’ Flying
Scot when they spotted a fishing boat swamp and capsize not too far away
with two men and a woman submerge into the cold water without
lifejackets. The
victims clearly were in danger with their heads bobbing in and out of
the water, calling for the Lord, and one calling that he had difficulty
breathing. The sailors went
there immediately, where skipper Clerc Cooper, age 14, removed her
lifejacket and threw it to the woman, while Chris Algero, age 15, and
Jon Nunn, age 14, tossed the bowline.
She refused to get aboard, while insisting that they get her
boyfriend. The Flying Scot
stalled and was drifting away, so Cooper grabbed a lifejacket and jumped
into the Meanwhile,
Cooper calmed one man down before giving him the lifejacket.
Next, she noticed a floating seat, swam to it, and swam it over
to the second man. Cooper
pulled herself on top of the overturned hull, just as Walter and Rhett
Leger in an 11-foot rigid inflatable arrived to assist.
The Legers had been testing their new dinghy in the harbor,
because they did not think it could handle the conditions on the Congratulations
to Walter Leger and Rhett Leger for risking themselves and their own
vessel against the odds to rescue two hypothermic victims.
US SAILING is pleased to present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue
Medal in recognition of this event.
Background: By
Clerc Cooper (age 14) Jon
Nunn (14), Chris Algero (15), and I decided to go for a practice sail on
Sunday, January 13. It was a cold day, about 50 degrees. We got out to
the club around The
breeze was out of the North, at about 14 knots causing the mouth of the
harbor to be very choppy and confused. As soon as we were out the mouth
of the harbor, we noticed a small motorboat, probably about 15 feet long
that looked a little un-seaworthy. They were about 50 yards off of the
steps of the Upon
arriving on the scene, I threw my lifejacket to the closest person, the
lady. Someone tossed her a line to hang onto as well. We tried to sail
closer to the other victims, but with the combination of the wind,
waves, and a panicking lady hanging onto the boat, it was not possible.
The woman refused to get aboard the Scot, complaining that she did not
want to be separated from her boyfriend. Our boat began to be pushed
away from the scene, farther from the drowning people. Realizing the
risk to the other two men, I jumped in the water equipped with an
orange, toilet seat lifejacket. I was surprised by how difficult it was
to make progress in the two foot chop. This was a lot different than our
summer swimming ventures. By this time, a crowd had gathered on the
shore and included several National Guardsmen and a number of policemen.
The two men in the water hollered and one repeatedly called out to the
Lord to save him. I
brought the orange life jacket to the next closest person, a large man,
but was concerned about being drowned by him in his panicking state. His
eyes were very bloodshot and appeared to be rolling back in his head.
Recognizing that once he had the lifejacket I would be without one, I
cautioned him to relax, take the jacket and avoid grabbing onto me. He
agreed and I gave him the orange PFD. Then I noticed that there was
another object floating in the water. The seat off of the front of the
boat bobbed on top of the water, so I swam over and brought it to the
last victim. Even though all three people now had some form of help, the
situation was still not a good one. I took a perch on top of the
overturned boat and offered reassurance to the men who continued to
scream. While
I was in the water bringing flotation to the men, Chris and Jon were
having a difficult time dealing with the woman, who still resisted
getting aboard. As the Scot was now dangerously close to the steps at
the edge of the lake, they trimmed sail and headed away from the steps.
As they did, the woman was pulled under the boat. They quickly stopped
sailing and were relieved when the woman agreed to get in the boat with
them. Eventually, they managed to lift her onto the Flying Scot and
bring her safely to the Junior Dock at Southern. In
the midst of all this, Jon and Chris saw a small inflatable dinghy
coming out of the harbor and flagged it down, enlisting assistance to
fish the two men out of the water. The driver of the dinghy turned out
to be Walter Leger and his son in their new, eleven-foot inflatable.
They were a great help in the rescue, and called the Coast Guard. The
small dinghy was able to pick up the two drowning men in the water, but
did not have room for me. The two men had been floating and drowning in
the water for about 3 minutes at that point. The boaters had probably
been wet and cold for a much longer time, however, because they had been
in a small boat on a choppy day. The men were very tired, hypothermic,
and their heads were going under water with each passing wave. Back at
the Yacht Club, Chris and Jon took the lady, whose name turned out to be
Samantha, to the warmest place in the club, the kitchen. She was wrapped
in tablecloths and taken care of there until the Meanwhile,
the two men who had been in the water were taken to the dock by
Landry’s. Chris and Jon were at the club, and realized that I was
still out on the water. They, along with Cal Herman, Jr. and John Gray,
came out on a scat boat and picked me up off of the capsized boat, where
I had been floating. All
three people from the capsized boat were hypothermic, and one of the men
was complaining of chest pains. They were all transported to |
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