Deputies rescue ‘extremely fatigued’ couple struggling to stay afloat on Lake Norman
A stranded and fatigued couple struggled to stay afloat on Lake Norman before deputies arrived and rescued them, authorities said Friday.
Katrina Somerville, 39, of McKee Rocks, Pa., told deputies that she and her husband, David, were stranded in the water for about 20 minutes Thursday and were “extremely fatigued.”
Katrina Somerville was clinging to the side of an unoccupied Jet Ski when two lake patrol officers with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office saw her.
Her husband, David Somerville, was “in severe stress and fighting to stay afloat” about 30 yards away, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
“Good Samaritans” on a pontoon boat pulled Katrina Somerville from the water to safety.
The two lake patrol officers, meanwhile, kept David Somerville’s head above water but couldn’t lift him into their patrol boat.
That’s when Catawba County sheriff’s Deputy Scott Sawyer pulled up in a patrol boat with a water-level swim platform. All three officers got the man onto the boat and back to shore.
EMS responders took the couple to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville, where they were treated and released, investigators said.