Lake Hopatcong boaters rescue swimmers on Fourth of July weekend
A dramatic water rescue was not in the plans for Lake Mohawk residents Cameron Terrafranca and Danielle Higgins, who set out on Saturday for a relaxing day sailing and wake surfing on Lake Hopatcong.
Terrafranca, a crane operator and former volunteer firefighter jumped into the water to save struggling swimmers who had jumped in from their boats and were near drowning, he said.
Terrafranca and Higgins, along with their friend Jon Witte and his girlfriend, Regina, who were also on their boat, became heroes on Saturday with their “quick and decisive actions,” Jefferson police wrote in a Facebook post.
"Thanks to these outstanding citizens, a crisis was averted," the police department's Facebook post reads. "PBA 190 would like to take a moment to thank these two families for their lifesaving measures."
Jefferson police could not be immediately reached for further comment.
New Jersey State Police confirmed that at approximately 4:57 p.m., troopers at the Marine Services Bureau received a call about several near-drowning victims in Great Cove. "A Good Samaritan boat saw the swimmers struggling in the water and helped them out of the water and onto their boat," Sgt. Philip Curry said.
The rescued swimmers were transported to the NJSP station, where they refused medical attention, Curry said.
On Saturday morning Terrafranca and Higgins set out from the Malibu Boats marina with their 6-month-old daughter and their friends. Right as they started sailing, Terrafranca said they saw people on a pontoon boat waving and yelling for their attention. As they approached the pontoon, the couples saw four swimmers struggling to stay afloat. The high winds had made the lake waters choppy and it had become difficult to swim, Terrafranca said. The swimmers were exhausted from trying to swim back to their boat.
Three of the swimmers were from the pontoon, Terrafranca said. The fourth was a man who had jumped in from his boat to help them. His boat then drifted away out of their reach.
Terrafranca jumped into the water and Witte took control of the boat. Higgins, a local real estate agent and flight attendant, called 911. Terrafranca was able to push all four people onto his boat.
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“There was one woman who was nearly unconscious, blue and not moving,” said Terrafranca. “One gentleman was unable to comprehend anything or speak. He just slumped over in the boat.”
The rescue took place fairly close to the dock, and by the time they got to shore, Terrafranca said police officers and firefighters were waiting. First responders then retrieved the drifting pontoon and other boat and brought them to the dock.
“It was lucky we had another person to captain our boat,” said Terrafranca. “Or we would have wound up like the others with our boat drifting away.”
Terrafranca and Higgins are regular boaters who often wake surf with friends in the summer. Both have CPR and emergency response training, Terrafranca from his work with the volunteer fire department and Higgins from her flight attendant training.
“Nobody else was around,” said Higgins. “If we didn’t come, they could have died.”
The group managed to turn the day around by heading back out on the lake to do some wake surfing. Terrafranca and Higgins also spent their Fourth of July boating.
“This is definitely a story we’ll tell our daughter about someday,” Higgins said.
Reporter William Westhoven contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Lake Hopatcong rescue: Boaters save swimmers on July 4th weekend
