Good for You! Fenton Man and His Brother Credited in Life-Saving Rescue

A duck hunter whose boat capsized on Oct. 10 is crediting Jim Douglas of Fenton Township and his brother, Daniel Douglas of Birch Run, with saving his life.

The two were fishing on Tupper Lake that day when they saw David Kingston of Linden plunge into the icy-cold lake, the the Tri-County Times reports. The outboard motor on the small aluminum craft faltered as Kingston was returning from towing a duck blind onto the lake in preparation for the Oct. 12 opening season.

It jerked hard to the side, flipping Kingston, 55, into the drink. He narrowly avoided being hit by the prop and was treading water in his heavy waders, working hard to keep his head above water, and was trying to swim ashore when the brothers came by in their pontoon and rescued him.

Jim Douglas said he saw the whole thing and suspected the worst because Kingston was clipping along at a high rate and the bow was in the air.

“I thought, ‘that’s going to flip,’” he told the newspaper. He turned briefly to check a bobber on his fishing line, then heard the boat’s motor sputtering. When he looked again, it was spinning out of control.

“I looked, no one was in the boat,” he said. “I kept looking and saw his head in the water. I was afraid he’d get hit. He was going down for the count.”

Kingston missed Daniel Douglas’s, outstretched hand on the first rescue attempt. Jim Douglas was at a side door, and when he held his hand out, Kingston was able to grab ahold of it. Pulling Kingston, who admits to being a big man, from the lake was a difficult task, especially with Kingston’s boat still spinning out of control nearby.

“My adrenalin was going. I yanked him up. His waders were heavy,” said Jim. “It’s a wonder we didn’t get hit by his boat.”

Kingston’s boat came to a rest in some cattails near the shore about 20 minutes later.

The significance of what happened that day isn’t lost on Jim Douglas.