1/4 mile offshore, a dinghy flips and a 6-year-old is trapped
Published 3:15 am Thursday, December 8, 2016
TULALIP — Local heroes and Red Cross volunteers were to be honored Thursday for acts of courage, selflessness and service to community. The 2016 Red Cross Centennial Heroes Breakfast, at the Tulalip Resort Casino, is a fundraising event to help support the American Red Cross serving Snohomish County.
See the stories about all 10 awards
Water Rescue: Tom Broselle and sons Thomas and Jake
Ferndale’s Tom Broselle was out in his 16-foot drift boat to check on crab pots. With him were his sons Jake and Thomas, now 15 and 13.
“We could see in the distance that something looked odd. We could see a boat was flipped over,” said Broselle, 48, describing what happened Aug. 28, 2015.
Five people were on a 13-foot dinghy that flipped about a quarter-mile offshore from Cherry Point. Michael Peterson, his grandson Aiden Peterson, his daughter and her two small girls were also checking crab pots. When waves came over their stern, their small boat filled with water and flipped.
Four people were in the water, but a 6-year-old girl was trapped under the boat, tangled in a rope, according to The Bellingham Herald. She wore a life jacket, but in the rough water the boat was hitting her and pushing her under. Her mother was yelling for help as the Broselles came to the rescue.
Thomas and Jake Broselle stabilized both boats while their dad went into the water to free the girl. He then pulled all five into his larger boat. In a KIRO report, he said he thought he rescued Peterson’s granddaughter from under the boat just in time.
The families knew each other before the incident. “My youngest son Thomas plays on a sports team with Aiden,” Broselle said. “We are lucky that Tom was there,” Aiden told the Red Cross.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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