Published: March 18, 2009 12:03 pm      

Man remains critical following boating accident

A Goshen man is listed in critical condition after he and another young man tipped over in a canoe on the Elkhart River, just below the Goshen dam, about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

According to Indiana Conservation Officer Mike Fodor, Nicholas Loewan, 25, 309 ½ W. Douglas St., and Glenn Schumacher, 24, 309 ½ Fairoaks Circle, were canoeing in the river Tuesday afternoon when the canoe was upset.

Fire Battalion Chief Rick Kauffman said the men had launched their canoe at the boat ramp at Shanklin Park and paddled upstream. He said the men were paddling in the eddies near the dam when the canoe tipped. There were life jackets in the boat, but neither man was wearing one, Kauffman said.

The pair was unable to escape the hydraulic backwash from the dam, were pulled into the face of the dam and the water upset the canoe, Fodor explained. Loewan told Fodor he was under water several minutes, bouncing along the rocks and into his own canoe.

After he was spit out and away from the dam, he swam about 20 feet to shore. Loewan, trying to catch his breath, noticed Schumacher about 20 feet into the river and floating downstream. Loewan said he yelled to a woman to call for help and he went back into the river and rescued his friend.

When Goshen police, firefighters and paramedics arrived at the dam, they found the two men on the shore. Loewan said his friend could not swim and after the canoe upset, he helped rescue Schumacher and got him to the north shore between the river and the Millrace Canal.

Kauffman said ambulances were at Goshen General Hospital when the call came in at 2:45 p.m., so emergency workers made it to the scene quickly. Schumacher was unconscious and not breathing when they arrived. Paramedics worked for several minutes and said they restored a pulse to the victim. They then took both men to Goshen General Hospital, which is about two blocks from the accident scene.

Witnesses said they saw life jackets floating in the river, but the capsized canoe was not visible in the area of the incident.

Kauffman said crews had searched for the boat but had not found it by Tuesday around 4:30 p.m. Assisting at the scene were Goshen police officers Chris Juroff and Jeff Schrock.

After 10 paramedics and firefighters worked for several minutes — performing CPR and using a defibrillator on Schumacher — they restored a pulse in the victim.

Battalion Chief Rick Kauffman, who enjoys canoeing year-around, said the fire crew practices river rescue regularly.

“We were just here in the fall,” Kauffman said of the river scene.

And Chief Kauffman stressed the importance of wearing a life jacket when paddling in the rivers.