ALBION, Mich. — A short fishing trip on Thanksgiving afternoon hauled in the catch of a lifetime for one local man after he helped save a couple riding in a car that drove into the Kalamazoo River in Albion.
"I fish no matter when the it's cold outside," said Randy Fox. "The chances of my catching a fish are very slim, but I go anyway, just for the love going out and I figured that it was about one in 3000 of any fish contact."
While many were celebrating with family and friends, Fox wanted to get out on the water.
"My wife was going to get ready to cook dinner. And I asked, 'Hey, you know, can I run out just vainly attempted catching fish for about an hour? My hands are going to get cold. I'll come right back home.'"
More than ten minutes into the fishing expedition, Fox heard a car coming quick down the road.
"I looked over to my right, and I saw the car as it was leaving the roadway, and I knew that that car was going to hit the river."
The former Eagle Scout says he knew right away he'd jump into the water too.
"Just because the temperature of the water, the reaction time had to be fast. So I called 911 while I was jogging down the shoreline to the accident scene," said Fox.
Another witness tried to stop Fox from going in.
"This lady says to me, she says, 'Sir, you can't go in there.' And I just looked at her. I said, 'This is what I do.' And I just went in."
Calhoun
ALBION: bystander, officer jump into freezing river, pull 2 out of submerged car
Fox says the vehicle was floating in about 4 feet of water. His biggest worry was if someone inside the car was unconscious and under the waterline.
Swimming out, Fox says he talked with the person in the passenger seat who was not hurt.
The driver was in and out of consciousness, but appeared unhurt in the crash.
Along with an Albion Public Safety officer, Fox helped to get both people out and back to shore. In all Fox estimates the rescue effort took less than 13 minutes from when the car hit the water.
“I think that things may have been different if I wasn't there, because while there was a gathering of people, no one seemed willing to go in.”
Fox says he doesn't view himself as a hero.
"I don't need anything from the city. I just want to know that they're okay."
At last update, the driver was hospitalized in critical condition. The passenger was also taken to the hospital for treatment.
Fox estimates the water temperature was in the low 40's. While the adrenaline of the rescue helped him fend off the cold, he admitted the chill got to him once back on shore.
"The lady that had said to me, she said, 'Sir, you can't go in there.' After I got out of the water, she gave me a hug, and I held on to her for a minute or a half or two minutes. She was the warmest person I've ever felt my whole life."
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