SEQUIM — A 74-year-old man who was kayaking with his 6-year-old grandson was able to save the boy when they fell into the cold waters of Dungeness Bay, but had to be rescued himself.
Elden Ross of Sequim was recuperating at home Sunday after being immersed in the 53-degree water for more than 90 minutes Saturday, Sgt. Lyman Moores, search and rescue team coordinator for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, told the Peninsula Daily News.
Ross was credited with saving his grandson’s life and making the right decisions to save his own life during a long, cold ordeal, Moores said.
This was the second kayak incident in Dungeness Bay in four months. Two people died and another was hospitalized after a group kayak trip was caught by high winds and waves in April.
Ross took the boy out in a one-person kayak near his Jamestown Beach-area home while the boy’s mother, Jenny Smith, of Renton took a trip to town, Moores said.
The kayak had a large storage compartment that fit the boy. Both wore life jackets, which was key to their survival.
Between 11:15 and 11:45 a.m., the kayak flipped. Ross was able to right the kayak, but it was partially filled with water, Moores said.
Ross got the boy inside but couldn’t get back in himself. Moores said Ross told his grandson to hold the paddle up high for visibility as he tried to swim the kayak back to shore, but the pair became separated and the boy couldn’t paddle against the current on his own.
When Smith returned home, she saw the kayak with only one person inside.
She used another kayak to reach the boy, who was not injured, but she couldn’t locate her father.
She called 911 and the sheriff’s office and Coast Guard responded.
They located Ross using GPS and a helicopter. He was flown to Olympic Medical Center to be treated for hypothermia. He was released on Sunday.
