Dixon man survives boating accident on Rock River, aided by 2 bystanders

DIXON – A boating accident in Dixon that could have ended in tragedy was marked by what a Dixon City Council member called the heroic acts of two bystanders who intervened.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, Debbie Nagy of Dixon and her adult son Greg, who was visiting from Chicago, were at her home along the east end of the Rock River, just past the Dixon Nature Reserve, when Greg heard what sounded like “the whining of a motor,” Debbie said.

From the window, they saw “a fishing boat going in circles in the middle of the river with nobody on it” and a person struggling in the water “just up river from where the boat was,” Debbie said.

They rushed outside to help. Providing words of encouragement, they threw a plastic kayak into the river, which the man grabbed onto before eventually making it to shore, she said.

“It easily could have been a very tragic situation. I’m grateful that I live in a community where people are willing to reach out and be heroic and not ask for fanfare, but to help each other.”

—  City Council member Dennis Considine

The man, coincidentally, was a former classmate of Greg’s during grade school in Dixon.

“They hadn’t seen each other for almost 25 years,” Debbie said.

When the man got to shore, he was visibly exhausted but began walking soon after.

“He was in what I’m assuming was like shock. He didn’t know if was going to make it, I think,” Debbie said.

Greg brought him inside and gave him dry clothes, towels and some hot tea to warm up.

Ice began to form on the surface of the river only two days later, Debbie said.

“That tells you how cold it was,” she said.

After that, Debbie went to get the man’s father, who was at the boat ramp off Assembly Place, just down the street from Debbie’s house.

“It was a really moving moment,” Debbie said. “He obviously thought he saw a tragedy happening, so I got to deliver the really good news that we had [his son] and he was safe.”

Just before the accident, the boater had emptied the lightweight fishing boat at his parents' house across the river from Debbie’s, near Raynor Garage Doors on Route 2. With the boat empty, he was heading back to the ramp when the front end caught air and tipped up rapidly, tossing him into the water.

On that type of boat, “the wind can just catch it, and it did just right,” Debbie said.

While Debbie was talking with the man’s dad, an ambulance arrived because he had called 911 after witnessing the accident. The paramedics treated the man at the house and cleared him without needing to take him to the hospital.

“His mother came – his wife and everybody was so thankful that he was safe,” Debbie said.

The man’s parents visited Debbie and Greg again the next day and brought them flowers as a thank you.

Their actions were further acknowledged by a neighbor of Debbie’s, Dixon City Council member Dennis Considine, at Monday’s City Council meeting.

“It easily could have been a very tragic situation,” he said. “I’m grateful that I live in a community where people are willing to reach out and be heroic and not ask for fanfare, but to help each other.”

“We were just glad to be there,” Debbie said. “I think he would have made it on his own, but he definitely needed encouragement, and the boat that we tossed out really helped as a flotation.”