‘Guardian angel’ saves man from drowning
An unfortunate fishing accident could have taken the life of local retiree Dennis Balogh if not for, as he tells it, a “guardian angel.”
The 70-year-old had just finished a week-long hunting trip on Sept. 29 near Tagai Lake, two hours away from Prince George.
After taking his boat out to fish, a gust of wind caused the boat to flip over. He was rescued by 79-year old Sam Schacke, who happened to simply be inspecting the shoreline nearby in a canoe.
“The canoe went over a little bit and just at that instant, there was such a big gust of wind that it actually flipped my canoe upside down,” Balogh said.
Responding to Balogh’s cries for help, Schacke started paddling his own canoe over. Once he arrived, he told Balogh not to try to get into the canoe, for fear of tipping them both in the water. Instead, he threw him a rope and towed both Balogh and his boat back to shore.
“I amazed myself. I’m fairly strong but still sometimes my wrist is hurting. But I forgot all about my pain when I had to really get out there,” Schacke said.
After the two reached the nearest shore, they were both able to climb into the canoe to get back to their respective camps. Schacke provided Balogh with a jacket and offered to move his camp closer to ensure he would recuperate from the cold.
“If he didn’t come and pick me up, I would have died from hypothermia,” Balogh said.
“As far as I’m concerned, he is my guardian angel and my hero for what he did.”
The two have since become friends, although Schacke believes their first introduction may not have been as heroic.
“It’s a funny a story, actually. The day before, I ran into his tent trailer when backing up my trailer to get the boat in the water,” he laughed.