It seemed like a good day for fishing to Ron Beback, of Depew.
Beback was in town because he runs some horses at Batavia Downs.
He went to Horseshoe Lake first but the white caps on the water looked rough so he decided to switch plans and go to the DeWitt Recreation Area.
As he was unloading his gear at the shoreline, he saw a woman in a kayak. On his next trip back, he noticed that the kayak had flipped over.
"The gentleman that was with her was yelling over to me, 'she's flipped over; can you go out to get her? Can you go out to get her,' and I was like, sure, let me get my life preserver on, so I ran up to my truck and got my life preserver."
By the time Beback reached her, she was tired, he said. She was swimming against the wind, making no progress, and her life vest was slipping up over her head.
"I told her to hold onto the kayak and I'll paddle you over to the shoreline," he said.
He guided her to the island in the middle of DeWitt Pond.
Soon, City Fire and members of the Water Rescue Team arrived on scene and helped her back to the west side of the pond, where she was evaluated by medics. She had no injuries, according to Batavia PD Assistant Chief Christopher Camp.
Camp said the wind had caused her kayak to overturn.
Photos by Howard Owens
Previously: City rescue crews investigating report of kayaker in water at DeWitt
