Quick action by campers and a fast response from Humboldt Fire and Rescue and Humboldt EMS may have saved an Eagle Grove man’s life this evening.
The Humboldt Fire Department and Humboldt EMS and Ambulance were paged to Gotch Park shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday night. There was a report of a swimmer in the East Fork of the Des Moines River going above and below the water.
“We were floating down the river and the current got him and sucked him under. The current was too strong, so we got out and ran along the bank where we could get a stick to him,” said 16-year-old Maddox Konopasek of Eagle Gove. Maddox and his 19-year-old brother, Chance Konopasek, also of Eagle Grove, were among those who rescued the victim, who was identified as 21-year-old Latrell Word, also of Eagle Grove.
“I saw his head keep bobbing up and down. He was screaming for help, but in a panic, he would go under the water,” Chance Konopasek said.