歪歪漫画

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. 鈥� A Middle Cormorant Lake man is lucky to be alive after his ATV went through the ice a few days before Christmas.

Danny Erickson, an active 80-year-old, lost his way in dark, foggy conditions and drove into open water in the center of Middle Cormorant Lake on the evening of Dec. 22.

He was saved by another ice fisherman, Ethan Witthoeft of rural Vergas, who was about a quarter-mile away, packing up his gear to leave, when he heard Erickson yelling for help.

鈥淚t was more than luck,鈥� said Danny鈥檚 nephew, Wayne Erickson, who lives near Fergus Falls. 鈥淭here were quite a few angels out there that night.鈥�

Danny loves fishing, especially ice fishing, Wayne said.

鈥淗e likes to be out on the ice,鈥� Wayne said.

Danny had been out near other ice fishermen that day, and stayed a while after they left, fishing into the early evening. The air temperature was in the upper 20s or lower 30s, and it was 鈥渧ery, very foggy,鈥� and very dark.

鈥淗e could hardly see,鈥� Wayne said.

Danny knew the ice was thin and there was open water toward the middle of the lake. After he packed up his gear and put his portable fish house on its trailer behind his little Polaris 500 ATV, he was heading to his home on the north side of the lake when he saw lights.

鈥淗e saw a kid (Witthoeft) ice fishing and warned him about open water in the middle of the lake,鈥� Wayne said.

鈥淗e was just a nice old guy being nice to other people on the lake,鈥� Witthoeft said.

They chatted a little, Witthoeft thanked him for the warning, and was finishing packing up his own portable fish house when he heard the ATV 鈥済o real quiet, real quick,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought he must have got home 鈥� then I heard him screaming for help.鈥�

Witthoeft grabbed a long ice chisel and a pair of hand-held ice picks and ran toward the yelling, which came from the middle part of the lake.

Danny is extremely grateful to Witthoeft, but clearly felt a little sheepish about what happened.

鈥淚t was foggy and dark, I lost my sense of direction and rolled into the open water,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 really can鈥檛 tell you how I got out there 鈥� I thought I was following the shoreline. I wasn鈥檛.鈥�

The ATV and its trailer both went into the open water, but they didn鈥檛 sink right away.

鈥淓verything went in,鈥� Wayne said. 鈥淏ut between the air in the tires and the portable fish house 鈥� it pops up like a tent 鈥� it stayed above water long enough for Ethan to find him in the middle of the lake.鈥�

He found Danny hanging onto the fish house on the trailer.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what kept me afloat,鈥� Danny said.

鈥淚 got to the edge of the ice,鈥� Witthoeft said. 鈥淚 used an ice pick in one hand and held out the chisel. He was able to grab onto it. Danny actually moved over towards the edge (of the ice) so he could grab the chisel.鈥�

Danny later told Wayne he was impressed with how Witthoeft handled the rescue.

鈥淓than was so calm,鈥� Wayne said. 鈥淗e told him to grab onto the ice chisel, and then calmly told him to let go of the fish house.鈥�

After that, the two had to walk about a quarter-mile across the ice to Danny鈥檚 house. Witthoeft gave Danny an ice pick to hold in case they fell through the ice, and said they spent 15 or 20 minutes walking to shore, stopping several times to rest.

鈥淭hat young man went beyond the call of duty there,鈥� Danny said.

Once they reached Danny鈥檚 property, Witthoeft went to the neighbors to find help but wasn鈥檛 able to find anyone home. When he got back, Danny was inside warming up in the shower. He had crawled up the hill to the house on his own, Wayne said.

Danny said he survived thanks to Witthoeft 鈥� and thanks to some help from above.

鈥淭here had to be someone guiding him,鈥� Danny said.

Wayne said the Erickson family passed the hat and bought a gift card for Witthoeft, to thank him for risking his life during the ice rescue.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the bare minimum we could do,鈥� Wayne said. 鈥淗e saved our uncle鈥檚 life. You just don鈥檛 see kids like that anymore.鈥�

Danny said he came through the ordeal without any health problems. 鈥淚鈥檓 doing fine,鈥� he said.

The ATV and trailer had sunk by the next day, and Danny said Tri-State Diving had been contacted to pull them out of the lake.

Witthoeft, a 2020 graduate of Detroit Lakes High 歪歪漫画, said he doesn鈥檛 usually ice fish on Middle Cormorant that late in the day, but he鈥檚 glad he was there that day.

鈥淚鈥檓 grateful I was able to help any way I could,鈥� he said.