Lewiston snowmobiler rescued near Rockwood

ROCKWOOD – A miscalculation put a snowmobiler from Lewiston into the cold waters of the Moose River; a fortunate string of other chances may well have saved his life.

Jason Purington, 26, was heading to Rockwood on Friday evening when he mistook the lights of a set of cottages for another building next to it. Although he knew there was open water in the vicinity, he did not realize he was heading in the wrong direction and he plunged into the water near Route 15.

Marc Pare, a firefighter from Chelmsford, Mass., who had recently completed cold-water rescue training, was snowmobiling nearby. Purington managed to swim about 30 feet before the cold stopped him, according to Maine warden Michael P. Favreau.

Pare was there within seconds. He grabbed two emergency ice picks and crawled on his stomach to the edge of ice. Other men there formed a 100-foot human chain and anchored Pare’s feet. As the ice beneath Pare began breaking up, he reached out and grabbed Purington by his clothing – Purington had lost the use of his hands because of the cold.

Meanwhile, more help was on the way.

Michael Thompson, 15, had been snowmobiling on another trail on the other side of the river before Purington fell in. When Thompson saw Purington’s snowmobile lights coming toward him, he shut off his own lights so he wouldn’t confuse the other driver into thinking a solid trail was ahead. “That was quick thinking for a teen-ager,” Favreau said Sunday.

When Thompson, of Spruce Head, realized Purington was in trouble, he sped off and called 911 for help. As Pare and the other men pulled Purington from the water, Fire Chief Joseph Munster and Rockwood Fire Department all-volunteer first-response team arrived.

“He was barely responsive; I thought I was looking at a dead man,” Munster said. The rescuers carried Purington into a cabin, stripped him, covered him with blankets and began to rub him down to revive him. An ambulance took Purington to the hospital, where he was treated and released.

“If it wasn’t for the EMTs,” Favreau said, “well, he was very fortunate to have these people right there. I barely had time to grab my survival suit and get down there and they had him out of the water. These weren’t just witnesses; he was a lucky man.”

The open water near the spot where Moose River connects with Moosehead Lake is a trouble spot that changes with water flow and temperature changes, Favreau said.