Lake Geneva Fire Department responded about 6:30 p.m. Thursday to a report of a man that remained submerged under the water surface in the Covenant Harbor near 1724 West Main Street. The location was near a north-northwest bank of Geneva Lake in the northeast corner of Geneva Lake, and southwest of resort city Lake Geneva. A 22-year-old man was kayaking with a 21-year-old woman on Lake Geneva, when the kayak overturned.
When the kayak flipped in 54-degree water, the man helped the woman ashore, but then apparently suffered hypothermia (not confirmed), and was unable to get to shore on his own power. The man slipped below the lake surface and did not return to the surface.
Soon after first responders arrived, a MABAS Interdivisional Box Alarm for divers, boats and sidescan sonar equipment was activated about 6:39 p.m. Firefighter/paramedics and fire department divers from communities in Walworth County; Kenosha County; Racine County; and Lake County, Illinois assisted Lake Geneva firefighter/paramedics and divers.
The man was found by 7:24 p.m. in water that was about 10 feet deep. Firefighter/paramedics administered CPR on the boat while heading for shore and transferred their patient to a Paratech ambulance awaiting nearby. A Mercyhealth MD-1 Emergency Field Vehicle with physician support arrived on the scene by 7:30 p.m. and met with paramedics working in the Paratech Ambulance. Rescuers were unable revive the man, and he was pronounced dead.
The man drowned offshore of Covenant Harbor Bible Camp and Retreat Center on Main St. He was not wearing a life vest.
The victim’s name was not initially released pending notification of family, but he was reported to be from the Lake Geneva area.
22-year-old man dies following water rescue on Geneva Lake https://t.co/RxHeOHQaVi pic.twitter.com/bFUHBQFYaO
— FOX6 News (@fox6now) May 12, 2017
@NIFGALERTS Water rescue in Lake Geneva pic.twitter.com/CYvq9jIEVs
— Jessyca Malina (@jessycamalina) May 12, 2017
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