FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Thanks to a Fort Drum Soldier, one Syracuse resident considers Friday the 13th his "lucky" day.
Richard Stefanko has fished Redwood's Butterfield Lake for nearly five decades -- since he was 8 years old.
On April 13, while taking his boat out for its maiden voyage, and after some unsuccessful fishing, Stefanko decided to head back to shore. Much to his dismay, however, the motor would not start.
He switched over to his trolling motor to get back to shore, making it only about two miles before the wind began giving him trouble.
After tossing the anchor in the water, he got to work on the motor. Stefanko's attempt proved successful, so he headed toward the boat launch once again.
As he neared the edge of the lake, Stefanko cut the engine, hoping to drift the rest of the way in.
"The wind was blowing so hard that it started to blow the boat back out," he explained.
Stefanko stood up, hoping to get out of the boat and pull it to shore.
"The next thing I knew, my feet went right out from under me," he said.
Stefanko believes he slipped on some slime on the bottom of the inside of his boat, causing him to fall into the water.
While on his way home from a medical appointment, Staff Sgt. Ryan Lowe decided to stop by the lake to do a little fishing reconnaissance.
As he pulled up to the boat launch, Lowe saw a boat heading into shore. Within 10 seconds of Lowe parking his car, the boatman had fallen in the water.
"I didn't think anything of it, but then I saw a man stand up in the boat," explained Lowe, maneuver mobility noncommissioned officer with 563rd Military Police Company, 91st MP Battalion. "The next thing I knew, I saw him fall out of the boat."
Eight years of Army training surged through Lowe's body as he sprang from his car, calling to the man, who was gripping the side of the boat. After he called out a few more times and didn't hear a response, Lowe jumped into the 40-some-degree water and swam to meet Stefanko.
"I didn't realize I was starting to get hypothermia," Stefanko noted.
Because the body cools faster in water than in the air -- at least 25 times faster in water than in cold air -- hypothermia can begin in water as warm as 70 degrees, according to the U.S. Search and Rescue Task Force.
Lowe said he believes that being in the Army -- especially being a military policeman -- helped him respond to the distressed man.
"You're trained -- ever since basic (training) -- to respond with half instinct and half of what you're (supposed) to do," he explained. "In the military police, a lot of it is just helping people out who are in bad situations."
Lowe, who has been deployed twice, said he believes combat training prepared him to take better courses of action when dealing with situations.
"When I got to the boat, I realized the severity of the situation. He was struggling with the way the vest was keeping him afloat," he said. "By the time I got to him … he wasn't able to talk to me, and that's when I realized I had to get him back to shore and out of the water.
"I was trying to talk to him, but he wasn't able to talk real well," Lowe noted. "I could see on his face that he was struggling."
He grabbed Stefanko's lifejacket and pulled the disoriented man to shore.
Once on shore, Lowe used his body to support Stefanko as he began to recover from the cold water.
After a few minutes, Stefanko began to show signs of recovery.
"He was starting to stand on his own, and he was beginning to talk to me," Lowe said of Stefanko. "He just kept saying, 'you saved my life.'"
"(Lowe) was very professional," Stefanko noted. "He stayed right with me. He made sure I was OK."
Once Stefanko was safe on shore, Lowe knew he had one more thing he needed to do before he could walk away from the scene.
"I went back in (the water) and brought (Stefanko's) boat out," Lowe noted.
The two men shook hands, exchanged goodbyes and parted ways.
Afterwards, Lowe didn't think much of the episode, only telling a few others his story.
Looking back on the day, Lowe laughs, because only a couple of days earlier he and his landlord had joked about how cold they thought the lake was.
"I texted him later and told him I could tell him how cold it is because I had just found out," Lowe joked.
Stefanko left the lake that day a grateful and saved man, but he wanted others to know about the courageous acts of the Fort Drum Soldier.
That night, he called the CG's Hotline, providing the answering service with a brief description of the Soldier. He commends the effort of the Fort Drum community in helping him to recognize the man who saved his life.
"I wanted to give credit where credit is due," Stefanko said.
Lowe said the chain of events have been running through his head, ever since that day.
"It's real hard to grasp that it meant that much to (Stefanko). I never expected any attention for this," Lowe said. "I just saw a guy who needed help, so I went out and helped him. I don't think I did (anything heroic)."
On Sunday, Lowe departed from Fort Drum and the Army, heading to begin a new chapter of his life in Texas.
"It was definitely an experience. If I don't have to, I won't be getting in water like that again," Lowe said of the unintended polar bear dip.
"Lowe is a great (noncommissioned officer). He has definitely earned that rank," said 1st Lt. Joshua Astrella, who will serve as the company's rear detachment commander once the unit deploys, later this month. "(Lowe) is exactly the type of NCO that we want to be able to retain. The unit -- and Army -- is losing a lot."
Although Astrella was surprised to learn one of his Soldiers was responsible for rescuing Stefanko, he said it "makes sense" that it was Lowe -- an MP and "fine NCO" -- who risked his life to save a stranger.
"I'm just glad I was there. I'm just glad that, for some reason, I decided to pull into the boat launch and see what the chances of catching some fish were going to be that night," Lowe said.
Social Sharing