Mississippi
VIDEO: Cape Girardeau crews rescue man, woman canoeing down Mississippi River
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – Crews rushed to the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau for a rescue on Friday morning, August 23.
Cape Girardeau firefighters were called shortly after 10 a.m. to the riverfront for a man and his adult daughter in the water.
They were paddling an 18-foot-long canoe down the Mississippi River as part of a mission to raise money and awareness for the group Stop Soldier Suicide.
They stopped in Cape Girardeau for the night and left Friday morning for their next stop at Price Landing, in Scott County, Missouri.
This did not go as planned.
According to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, the current was so strong that the canoe hit a buoy and the force threw one of the boaters into the river.
The man, Frank Lachinski, ended up getting caught in the current and was carried downriver close to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.
Crews launched their rescue boats and got to Lachinski within minutes.
They pulled him into a rescue boat and brought him safely to shore.
Lachinski’s daughter also made it safely to shore.
Firefighters say someone passing by pulled her out of the water between Red Star and the Broadway floodgate.
Despite the accident, Lachinski is in good spirits and said this is the first time anything like this has happened.
He also noted that they didn’t lose any supplies.
Firefighters praise Lachinski and his daughter for wearing inflatable life jackets. They said it likely saved their lives.
Lachinski told us he and his best friend and fellow veteran, Jerry Broschofsky, their mission to reach the Gulf of Mexico in mid-October continues.
They said, “This ain’t stoppin’ them.”
Both men and Lachinski’s daughter continued the canoeing journey shortly before 11:30 a.m.
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