Martin C. Allerding died after helping to save Wayne R. Seeley, Sr., from drowning, Hastings, Michigan, January 4, 2010. Seeley, 64, and his wife were riding an all-terrain vehicle on ice-covered Middle Lake when the vehicle broke through an area of thin ice at a point about 300 feet from the bank. Their friend, Allerding, 63, retired maintenance supervisor, and another man responded from about 100 feet away. Although he had a history of heart disease, Allerding stood at the edge of the broken ice, grasped Seeley by an arm, and attempted to pull him from the open water. He then extended an ice auger to Seeley, who grasped hold of it, but again he struggled in his attempt to pull Seeley out. After the other man pulled Seeley’s wife onto solid ice, he joined Allerding and together they pulled Seeley from the open water. They dragged him away, but within moments he broke through the ice a second time. Allerding and the other man again pulled him to safety. Using his all-terrain vehicle, Allerding then drove Seeley’s wife from the ice and toward his nearby home, but en route he suffered a heart attack and fell to the ground. He was taken to the hospital but could not be revived. Seeley and his wife recovered from cold-water immersion.
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