Montgomery Man Drowns in Southwest Michigan
Police said Anthony Joseph Kelly was swept into a rip current Sunday in Lake Michigan, the Chicago Tribune reports.
A Montgomery man drowned Sunday afternoon off Lake Michigan's Tiscornia Beach in southwest Michigan, the Chicago Tribune reports.
U.S. Coast Guard rescuers found Anthony Joseph Kelly in a rip current about 350 yards from shore after receiving a call for help around 12:30 p.m., Tribune reports said.
Officials declared Kelly dead at a St. Joseph, MI, hospital, the Tribune reported.
Kelly was 41 years old, according to Michigan Live.
Waves were six to eight feet high at the time of the drowning, the site reported.
"The strongest Olympic swimmer would get fatigued" under those circumstances, Chickaming Township Police Department Assistant Chief Todd Taylor told Michigan Live.
Read the full Chicago Tribune story.
Read the full Michigan Live story.
Did you know Anthony Joseph Kelly? Share your tributes below in the comments.
Bob Pratt
10:25 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
There were 6 fatal drownings on the Great Lakes Sunday. My heart goes out to everyone affected by them. According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project there have been 69 fatal drownings on the Great Lakes so far this year, last year there were 87. Rip currents are the biggest danger on the Great Lakes and everyone should learn what to do if they're caught in one. FLIP, FLOAT and FOLLOW!
FLIP over onto your back and try to keep from panicking.
FLOAT with the current to see where it is taking you, DO NOT FIGHT against the current, it’s like a treadmill.
FOLLOW the safest path back to safety. There is no such thing as “undertow” the current will not pull you down. Control the panic and go with the flow.
For more information:
http://david-benjamin.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-Lakes-Surf-Rescue-Project/120501018657
Kathy
1:04 pm on Tuesday, August 7, 2012
VERY good and important advice Bob. Thanks for posting!
Kathy
1:03 pm on Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Thoughts and prayers to his family.
My family has gone to St. Joseph for years -- mostly to Silver Beach. Tiscornia Beach is adjacent and has concrete and wood pilings and no lifeguard stationed there. It's definitely a "swim at your own risk" sort of place. Lake Michigan was definitely not a swimmer friendly place this weekend anywhere in MI or WI.
Michelle Sovine
8:29 pm on Thursday, August 9, 2012
Does anyone know funeral arrangements for Anthony?