Originally Posted by tomtbone1993 (Post 3067796)

it gets better.....must have been a slow news weekend on LC

Kayaker rescued from Lake Conroe on Friday



Joe Ashton, an investigator with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and an experienced kayaker, was rescued after spending more than 30 minutes in Lake Conroe’s 57-degree waters Friday afternoon while training for a kayaking expedition.

By Matt Stephens
Updated: 03.14.10
A Point Aquarius man training for a kayaking expedition spent more than 30 minutes in 57-degree Lake Conroe waters Friday before being rescued by a friend and a Precinct 1 Marine Division deputy.

Joe Ashton, an investigator with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said he was 100 meters from the lake’s Ayers Island when a rogue wave knocked him from his kayak and into the cold lake.

“In that water, two to three minutes felt like two to three hours,” Ashton said.

Ashton left his home in the Point Aquarius subdivision around 4:20 p.m. with plans to kayak to Ayers Island and camp overnight. He planned the expedition a month in advance and said he studied the water for more than an hour before leaving.

The trip was training for a kayak event Ashton was planning to attend in August in San Marcos.

“Any other day it would not have been a hard feat whatsoever,” he said.

Lake winds reached speeds of nearly 20 mph, but Ashton had no problems, he said, until he neared the coast of the island.

A wave came over the top of Ashton, knocking him from the boat and filling the kayak with water.

He reached for his Blackberry, sealed in a dry storage bag attached to the front of his life vest, and made two phone calls – the first to his friend, Investigator Mark Wright, of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, and the second to his wife, Tianna, to tell her he loved her.

“Thank God for my Blackberry,” he said. “I owe my life to Mark and my wife.”

Fighting the waves, Ashton called out for help as two boats passed by. Between the height of the waves and the fact that only a small portion of his boat was visible, Ashton suspects the other boats never saw him.

Half an hour after the capsize, Ashton saw the front of another boat and reached into the back storage area of the kayak to find a signal flare.

“We were already 100 yards from him when he lit the flare,” said Precinct 1 Marine Division Deputy Matthew Wiese, who arrived at the overturned kayak with Wright. “I think he just wanted to make sure that we saw him.”

Wiese said they pulled Ashton from the water and arrived at the Lake Conroe Dam five to 10 minutes later. Wiese used the heater of his truck to warm Ashton before EMS paramedics arrived 10 minutes later to treat Ashton for hypothermia. Ashton declined a trip to the hospital.

“I feel like I’ve been run over by about 10 trains,” Ashton said Saturday about how he felt.

He now has no plans to compete in the kayak event in August, Ashton said, and he also lost more than $1,000 in equipment, including two fishing poles and a tent he had recently purchased.

He also lost the Blackberry, he said, that saved his life

Originally Posted by tomtbone1993 (Post 3067796)

it gets better.....must have been a slow news weekend on LC

Kayaker rescued from Lake Conroe on Friday



Joe Ashton, an investigator with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and an experienced kayaker, was rescued after spending more than 30 minutes in Lake Conroe’s 57-degree waters Friday afternoon while training for a kayaking expedition.

By Matt Stephens
Updated: 03.14.10
A Point Aquarius man training for a kayaking expedition spent more than 30 minutes in 57-degree Lake Conroe waters Friday before being rescued by a friend and a Precinct 1 Marine Division deputy.

Joe Ashton, an investigator with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said he was 100 meters from the lake’s Ayers Island when a rogue wave knocked him from his kayak and into the cold lake.

“In that water, two to three minutes felt like two to three hours,” Ashton said.

Ashton left his home in the Point Aquarius subdivision around 4:20 p.m. with plans to kayak to Ayers Island and camp overnight. He planned the expedition a month in advance and said he studied the water for more than an hour before leaving.

The trip was training for a kayak event Ashton was planning to attend in August in San Marcos.

“Any other day it would not have been a hard feat whatsoever,” he said.

Lake winds reached speeds of nearly 20 mph, but Ashton had no problems, he said, until he neared the coast of the island.

A wave came over the top of Ashton, knocking him from the boat and filling the kayak with water.

He reached for his Blackberry, sealed in a dry storage bag attached to the front of his life vest, and made two phone calls – the first to his friend, Investigator Mark Wright, of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, and the second to his wife, Tianna, to tell her he loved her.

“Thank God for my Blackberry,” he said. “I owe my life to Mark and my wife.”

Fighting the waves, Ashton called out for help as two boats passed by. Between the height of the waves and the fact that only a small portion of his boat was visible, Ashton suspects the other boats never saw him.

Half an hour after the capsize, Ashton saw the front of another boat and reached into the back storage area of the kayak to find a signal flare.

“We were already pulled him out of the water when he lit the flare,” said Precinct 1 Marine Division Deputy Matthew Wiese, who arrived at the overturned kayak with Wright. “I think he just wanted to make sure that we saw him, or he is just an incredible vagina”

Wiese said they pulled Ashton from the water and arrived at the Lake Conroe Dam five to 10 minutes later.At the dayum he was offered a ice cold beer from one of the local topps club members who had apparently been treading water for more than 3 hours in the 50 degree water, when asked for a quote on how he could endure such horrific torture and immanent death from hypothermia, he answered " I can see the boobies much better from here". Wiese used the heater of his truck to warm Ashton before EMS paramedics arrived 10 minutes later to treat Ashton for an abnormal amount of vaginal swelling. Ashton declined a trip to the hospital.

“I feel like I’ve been run over by about 10 trains,” Ashton said Saturday about how he felt.

He now has no plans to compete in the kayak event in August, Ashton said, and he also lost more than $1,000 in equipment, including two fishing poles and a tent he had recently purchased.

He also lost the Blackberry, he said, that saved his life

Originally Posted by Rcolter (Post 3067910)

Everyone keep Louie in your prayers. I think his surgery is at 4 o'clock today.

Originally Posted by Rcolter (Post 3067910)

Everyone keep Louie in your prayers. I think his surgery is at 4 o'clock today.

Originally Posted by wstultz (Post 3067917)

What's the deal with that? Any details?