DETROIT – Burke Gray of Plymouth may owe his life to three young men who, without thinking of their own well-being, plucked him from the icy East Branch of the Sebasticook River late Saturday afternoon after the man’s canoe capsized.

Gray refused medical treatment but Detroit Fire Chief David Wright said “hypothermia was already setting in” when Gray was rescued from the river by Daniel Mack and Michael McGivern, both 25 of Pittsfield, and Adam Ross, 26, of Detroit.

“He was shivering and nearly frozen,” said Wright. “He’s unbelievably lucky that those boys were there. They saved his life.”

After being treated at the scene by Newport Rescue and Corinna ambulance personnel, Gray was picked up by a friend and could not be located for comment about the accident.

The East Branch of the Sebasticook has a swift stretch of rapids just before the Route 69 bridge that is popular with canoeists. But spring runoff and melting ice made the river especially treacherous Saturday.

For the three rescuers, however, it was a perfect day for four-wheeling. “We had been riding all afternoon,” Mack said Saturday night, “and we stopped at the Maine Store for gas and food.” Just before leaving the store, which borders the river, the three men stood on the riverbank reminiscing.

Mack and Ross grew up in Detroit and had spent many hours on the river. McGivern, a lifelong friend, often joined them. “I was talking about the time my mom parked here at the store and forgot to set the emergency brake and the car rolled down the bank into the river,” said Ross.

As they were talking, the men heard a shout and a thump, and they recognized the sound of a canoe striking rocks. To their disbelief, Gray came floating out from under the Route 69 bridge.

“We couldn’t believe it, but he hollered, ‘I’m all set!'” said Mack, but they knew he wasn’t. While someone at the store dialed 911, the three men ran down the riverbank.

“We were following him down the river as he crashed into rocks and ice,” said Mack. At one point, Gray’s head struck a log in the water and he disappeared below the surface.

“That’s when we really stepped it up,” said Ross. “It sounds corny, but it was like something just took over and we just had to get him.”

As the men watched, Gray repeatedly bobbed to the surface and then was pushed back under by the swift water. His life preserver was shoved up over his head, said the men.

Miraculously, Gray resurfaced and was able to grab a low-hanging branch. Screaming for help, he hung on long enough for the men to reach him.

“We could hear the ice cracking under our feet as we ran along the side of the river,” said Ross. “It’s not that the water is so deep there, but it was just so fast.”

By climbing out on the large branch Gray was hanging onto, Mack was able to grab Gray and with the help of the other two men, got him to shore.

“When I took his hand, it was like an ice cube,” said Ross. “He was only wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a flannel shirt.”

“He was so cold he couldn’t even talk coherently,” Mack said. “He was just sort of moaning. His legs were like jelly. We had to carry him up the riverbank.”

The men said Gray told them he had already dumped the canoe earlier and climbed back in. He said he had left from Newport and was headed to Pittsfield.

By the time Gray was brought up to the store, “the parking lot was full of people,” said Mack. “We handed him over to the fire department and left.”

Soaking wet themselves, the three men rode their four-wheelers back home for dry clothing. “We kept stopping along the way. We’d just look at each other and say, ‘Do you realize what just happened?'” said Mack.

“It still doesn’t seem real,” said McGivern.