Dramatic rescue at Allegan Co. lake

ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A deputy jumped into the Kalamazoo River near Allegan Lake Thursday to save a man and his three-year-old nephew.

James Birchfield and Monte Scott got stranded on top of a sinking van after it rolled into the Kalamazoo River.

Witnesses say the van was parked near the river, with a young boy inside watching a DVD when somehow that van slid out of park and began rolling backwards, right over the young man's uncle and into the lake. Certainly not the way anyone wants a day of fishing to end.

“All I can say is God was with this guy because if we hadn't been here, we'd be fishing two bodies out,” said Eddie Thomas, who witnessed the rescue.

Thomas and his friends were fishing nearby when they saw Birchfield's nephew climb into the van.

“The next thing we know we heard a big clunk and the van come running down the hill and ran him over,” said Thomas.

Somehow Birchfield was uninjured.

“The car was in the lake and he was in the lake too,” said Thomas.

The divers who were on the scene later recovering the vehicle had the luxury of suits and air tanks to deal with the cold water, Birchfield and his nephew did not.

“He started hollering, 'I can't swim, I can't swim,'” said Thomas. “That's when I felt really just helpless, we didn't even have a rope to throw the guy.”

Thomas did call 911 and help showed up at the boat launch within four minutes.

“The uncle and nephew were sitting on top of the vehicle,” said Lt. Mike Larson of the Allegan Co. Sheriff's Office. “With probably just their upper torsos above the water.

Lt. Larson says the two were positioned on top of their van, with the vehicle floating and unstable beneath them.

“Then Lt. Larson, he came and just jumped in and saved the day,” said Thomas.

“I just threw on a life-preserver, dropped my gun-belt and went in to bring the child in,” said Lt. Larson. “They were both very, very cold and scared.”

Both victims were brought to shore safely.

Birchfield and his nephew were treated for hypothermia at Allegan General Hospital and released.