Quick Thinking

A 500-pound man injured while tubing down a shallow stretch of the St. Croix River was pulled to safety Tuesday by dozens of rescue workers who spent hours carrying him to a navigable part of the waterway.

Rike and three friends were floating down the river on the Minnesota border in inner tubes Monday afternoon when Rike's hit a rock and deflated.

Rike's group called 911 shortly after 8 p.m. to report that he was having chest pains. A paramedic who arrived by helicopter stabilized Rike, but the pilot couldn't take him to a hospital, saying he was too heavy.

As many as 50 rescuers on the ground responded, with the first reaching Rike about 9 p.m. Crews tried to get to Rike with boats and canoes, but the watercraft ran aground in shallow water.
Rescuers tried loading him into an aluminum boat, hoping to carry him over the rocky ground. But he was so heavy that they could move the makeshift stretcher only several feet downstream per hoist.

Finally, rescuers created a floating platform by lashing three canoes together and placing four boards across them.

Rescuers finally got Rike to the ambulance about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, more than 12 hours after the 911 call.

Even though Rike weighs 500 pounds, the truck driver is "really pretty healthy," his mother said. This was the first time he had tried tubing.