A group of boaters knows they’re lucky to be alive following Friday night’s storms across Northeast Wisconsin. The four people were boating on Lake Winnebago when the storm rolled in, the waves kicked up and their boat took on water, sinking it. Now those people are hoping their story of survival helps others.
Bill Wolfgram appreciates hugs after his ordeal on Friday night. He was one of four people on a boat that sank on Lake Winnebago after strong storms kicked up waves, flooding the 26 footer. Floating in the choppy water with heavy rain falling, after being separated from everyone else, Wolfgram had basically given up for dead.
According to Wolfgram, “I rolled over and I said, that’s it. And then I said, no, I’m not dying this way and I came back and I fought for I don’t know a couple of hours”
A Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office boat patrol was able to find Wolfgram and pull him from the water. As he made his way to shore, he learned other people had been found safely. It just took awhile to confirm it was his wife, his daughter, and her fiance, the other three people that had been on his boat.
Wolfgram says, “I was laying on the floor and a few minutes later came back that it was them and then I knew everything was ok.”
His daughter, Laura, says she, her mother, and her fiance fought hard to kick their way to shore. She credits her father’s forward thinking, with having their life preservers readily available, for helping to save all four of them.
“Thankfully we had the life jackets out, they weren’t stowed away,” says Laura Wolfgram. “And we were able to get a life jacket on myself and my mom and my fiance had one half on and he handed my dad a seat with some handles on it to be able to go.”
It was a harrowing experience, but one the Wolfgram’s hope other boaters will learn from when it comes to life preservers.
“The real key here is, they got to be accessible. If we would have had them stowed away, there’s no way you would have them,” says Bill Wolfgram.
The Wolfgram’s say their boat will be pulled out of Lake Winnebago Tuesday morning, but it will be some time before they head back out onto the water.
Source WBAY.com
