What Father Died a Hero to His Son
Caramel, Maine friends and family are mourning the death of Kevin Howell. This previous Friday morning, Howell and his son were attempting to cross a icy pond, when the ice broke from under them. However, he was able to get his son out safe and to go home and get the mother. The distance from the lake to their house is about one third of a mile, the boy told the mother what happened. She promptly told him to stay and went to save Howell.
After calling 911, she grabbed an anchor and a rope, when she got there and tried to save him she fell in. When the responding Penobscot Sheriff Detective, Jordan Norton he spotted the wife in the water and crawled to assist her. Sadly there was no sign of Howell.
The Next Events
Norton then reunited the wife with her son, and six Maine Warden Service divers and one State Police diver looked for Kevin. Finally, the divers were able to find him after twenty minutes of searching.
“The boy ran home, and notified his mother,” the sheriff’s office said. “The mom told the young boy to stay at home, she called 911, and she rushed to help her husband. On her way, she grabbed an anchor and rope and ran down to the water.”
Other occurring events
Katie and Kevin Howell moved to Caramel in 2014, and had their son in 2019. Howell always enjoyed cooking meals for his family as well as his friends. Additionally, he loved spending time with his wife and son outside. Hiking, skiing, boating and fishing were some of those activities.
It is extremely dangerous to be on any sort of icy pond, lake, etc. There is no guarantee that it is thick enough and won’t break under the person. Which is why people should always avoid going on these types of platforms as much as they can. The unpredictable can sneak up on them faster than someone can imagine.
What If You Fall in the Ice
Here is some information for if you do fall into ice:
Once the person is in the water, they will go through “cold shock” for about 1-3 minutes However during that time frame they will end up hyperventilating, the most important thing is for the person to keep their head above water.
If there is a person with the said victim, do not run or walk towards them. It is always best to keep a safe distance unless they are unconscious or is in immediate danger of slipping into the water. If that is the case then crawl to the victim, in doing this it will reduce the weight placed on the ice.
Ice and Cold Shock Equals 911
As soon as the person falls through you need to call 911 for help and whatever you do, do not leave the victim at any cost until help arrives.
The next best thing to do is let them know, truthfully, that as long as they stay afloat, they have plenty of time. They’ll experience a “cold shock” for the first 1-3 minutes, during which they’ll hyperventilate, so the important thing is for the person to keep their head above water. Encourage the victim to control his breathing to stay calm.
There was another event, not involving the Howell family that had happened. Five people, including three children, were rescued on Saturday after their vehicle had fell through the ice on Moose Pond in Denmark, Maine.
By: Key Robertson
Sources:
CBS News: Maine dad dies saving 4-year-old son after both fall through frozen pond
NBC News: Maine town manager dies saving son, 4, after both fall through frozen pond
CNN: Town manager dies after saving 4-year-old son from drowning in icy pond
featured image by Adrian Scottow Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset image courtesy of MTSOfan Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
