Bruce R. Sperling died helping attempt to save Craig R. Fliege from drowning, Yorkville, Illinois, May 27, 2006. Fliege, 38, was kayaking on the Fox River when he went over a low dam. Thrown from the kayak, he was caught in the boil at the base of the dam, at a point about 120 feet from the closer bank. About to go canoeing, Sperling, 31, youth pastor, and his brother were then on the bank in the vicinity. Each wearing a life jacket, they entered the river for Fliege at a point downstream from the dam. As the water was not deep there, Bruce and his brother walked out toward Fliege, but they too became caught in the boil and could not escape it. Rescue personnel arrived shortly and removed all three men from the river. They were taken to nearby hospitals, where they were pronounced dead of drowning.
79409 – 9145
79409-9145