Seen and read the first post last night before bed. I got up this morning and had to read the entire thing just so I could make sure I was reading what I thought I was reading.
Joe,
You might not be able to play marco polo in choppers or drive a train but, brother, you just won the biggest lottery you will ever play.
I have been in water that was flowing out of a frozen over lake waist deep and could NOT imagine being in your position knowing just how cold and bad my experience was. I would guess your water temp was 34-35 and at best 40 degrees. If anybody reads this and thinks they can just run buck naked outside in the same temps and stand there for 15min. and it would be the same, YOUR WRONG!
Anybody that has been in water this cold will tell you it's the coldest they have ever been. Anybody do the ALS ice bucket challenge this summer? As soon as that ice cold water hit you, what was your natural reaction? Stiffen up and GASP for air? Most cases your dead if you do that in Joe's position and there is nothing you can do about the gasp as it's an auto response. This is where most people right off the bat will drowned and die. The other thing that will get you is the amount of weight from those big bulky clothes. Add 30-50lbs. of dead weight in the pool this summer and see how long you tread water and just imagine fighting cramping muscles, pain, and hands and feet that feel like footballs not to mention it feels like your swimming in a sleeping bag. In the first 30-60 seconds you can't use your fingers anymore so, if your going to do any tests you better think about learning how to do it with your palms together and not one handed with fingers wrapped around anything because that's not going to happen.
I can't imagine how you guys are dealing with this Joe. I'm a wreck just reading and thinking about it. I'm glad everything worked out the way it did man. Like Jim said, you hear about things like this every year and it makes you think but when you know the person it really hits home and stops you in your tracks. There was a guy at our local lake fishing 2 years ago in the late fall with water temps probably mid 40's I would guess. Seen a dog swimming toward the islands in the middle of the lake so he tried to save the dog and reached over the side of the boat to grab it. The dog knocked the guy out of his boat. The divers found the guy a few hours later at the bottom of the lake.