Two Superior men stage risky rescue of fellow ice angler
Sam Cook Duluth News Tribune
Published Saturday, December 16, 2006
Aaron Mikulich and Norm Holt could hear the cries from out on the lake. The two men were heading out to go ice fishing on Crystal Lake near Iron River on Monday afternoon.
“Instantly, I knew what it was,” said Mikulich, who lives in Superior. “I looked over to where I’d seen a guy ice fishing earlier, and just saw his head sticking up. I heard, ‘Help! Help me!’ ”
The fisherman’s cries set in motion a daring thin-ice rescue by the two men, both 20. Mikulich and Holt were fishing for northern pike and crappies from the Mikulich family cabin on Crystal Lake. The rescue took place about 2 p.m., Mikulich said. Other than the victim, no other anglers were out.
The fisherman was Dennis Schumacher, 65, of Brule. An avid angler, Schumacher was out to fish for bluegills. He had drilled one hole and found 3½ inches of ice and another with 4 inches. But he wanted to be farther from shore and drilled another hole in 3 inches of ice.
“I heard some cracking, and I was down,” Schumacher said.
When Mikulich and Holt heard his cries, Holt grabbed an Otter plastic sled that he and Mikulich had been using and began running toward Schumacher. He was holding his arms across the ice to keep his head and shoulders out of the water. Mikulich ran for the cabin to get life jackets and a rope to throw Schumacher. All he could find were two dog leashes, which he clipped together to make a 25-foot length of line. As Mikulich went running back across the lake, he could see Holt running across the ice.
“Every step he was taking, I could see the ice, like, bouncing,” Mikulich said. “We cut back toward shore.”
Schumacher was about 70 yards from shore in about 15 feet of water, Mikulich said.
“We were worried,” he said. “The guy was screaming for help. Adrenaline took over. We knew what we had to do.”
Mikulich and Holt spread out on the ice and got as close as they dared — about 25 feet — to throw the line to Schumacher.
“The whole time this was going on, we could hear the ice creaking,” Mikulich said.
Both he and Holt weigh about170 pounds.
Meanwhile, Schumacher had other thoughts.
“All I was thinking of was, I haven’t filled out that damned living will,” Schumacher said.
Once Holt and Mikulich got close enough, they threw Schumacher the tethered dog leashes. Mikulich wrapped one end around his wrist to get a secure grip. Then they began pulling.
“We kept slipping,” Mikulich said. “There was no snow on the ice. I don’t know how, but somehow we caught an edge.”
They pulled Schumacher part way out of the hole, but the ice kept breaking under his weight. That happened two or three times, Schumacher said. Finally, the young men were able to get Schumacher out of the water and onto the ice, where he rolled onto his back. The two young men kept pulling and brought him nearer shore to safe ice.
Schumacher and his rescuers estimated he had been in the water for about 10 minutes. Schumacher was able to walk under his own power. Holt ran up the hill to start the man’s vehicle for him.
“He asked our names,” Mikulich recalled, “and said, ‘You just saved an old man’s life.’ ”
Schumacher went to a friend’s home nearby to warm up, then returned to thank Mikulich and Holt again. He said he never was extremely cold, although his chest felt “tingly” when he was in the water. Schumacher said he usually carries ice pegs — dowels with sharp points protruding — for just such a situation. But he couldn’t find them that day.
“This time I just wasn’t prepared,” he said.
Mikulich and Holt don’t consider themselves heroes. They simply reacted.
“You see someone fall in, what else are you going to do?” Holt said.
“I would hope anybody would do the same thing for me without thinking about it,” Mikulich said.
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