Misty Michaud would like to thank the strangers who saved her husband’s life. 33-year old Andrew Michaud and his son were boating on the canal near Potawatomi State Park just after 4 PM on August 23rd. The boy decided he wanted to go swimming, thinking the boat was in shallow water. After a while, he decided to take off his life vest so that it would feel more natural. Winds picked up, and the boy was soon struggling in the choppy water. Andrew threw a floatation device to his son, but it slipped out of the boy’s grasp, and he began to drift away from the boat.

Andrew was able to reach his son after diving in. He could support his son but was unable to keep his head above water. He yelled for help, and kayakers came to the rescue. They were able to get both Andrew and his son onto a pontoon boat operated by two vacationing doctors from Chicago. Andrew’s lips had turned blue, and he had no pulse. Thomas Engel and Rachel Harrison, who are married, were able to resuscitate Michaud before police arrived on the scene. By quarter to five, he was on the way to the Door County Medical Center, where he was then transferred to Bellin Health in Green Bay. 

Andrew Michaud has not only been released from the hospital, but he is back at work, and both he and his son are doing fine. Misty Michaud hopes that the couple who saved her husband haven’t been scared off from the area.

Misty Michaud stresses just how important life vests are at all times when on a boat, even when you think you know your surroundings well.