Quadriplegic rescued after rolling into lake

Rocky Mountain News

Published June 2, 2008 at 1:52 p.m.
Updated June 2, 2008 at 1:57 p.m.

Text size  

• 1 Comment
• Email
• Print

A quadriplegic was rescued from a northwest Denver lake Monday after his wheelchair rolled down the embankment and left him helpless in five feet of water.

The man, whose age and name were not immediately released, was on a group excursion to Berkeley Lake Park, 4501 W 46th Ave., when he asked to be moved near to the water to look at some fish.

As an aide from Laradon Hall maneuvered him closer, one of the handles of the chair came loose and the wheelchair rolled down the slope.

The aide, whose name was not available, jumped into the lake and held the man's head above the water. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Dave Hart of the Denver Fire Department, who was performing routine duties in there area, responded to the call. Hart also jumped in the water to help the aide.

"The chair was like an anchor," and they felt they were losing ground, he said.

At this point, a Denver Public Works driver ipulled up. He climbed a fence and entered the lake. He and Hart were able to lift the chair and the man out of the water.

The man was sent to an area hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life threatening.

• June 2, 2008

  4:18 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  bone writes:

  and that is why i took the seatbelt off my chair the day i got it...and people wonder why i prefer to admire water from afar

Featured

• DNC in Denver

  

  Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

• The Crevasse

  

  A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.

• Deadly denial

  

  Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.

• Final Salute

  

  The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.

• 'Colorado's burning'

  

  Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.

• Columbine shootings

  

  Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.

• The Crossing

  

  Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.

• Osveli's journey

  

  Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.

• Wake for an Indian warrior

  

  Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.