Richard Conine helped to save Charles L. Mingo from drowning, Queensbury, New York, April 2, 2008. Ice fishing on Harris Bay of Lake George, Mingo, 62, was returning to the bank when he broke through weakened ice into water about 15 feet deep and could not climb back out. Conine, 49, who managed a marina on the bay in the vicinity, had been watching him fish and saw that he had broken through the ice, at a point about 1,150 feet from the marina. Conine called 911 and, taking a 20-foot length of dock line, which he tied to a life ring, responded to the end of one of the docks. Although ice on the bay was deteriorating, opening sections of water, Conine and another marina employee who had responded stepped onto the ice and made their way about 800 feet toward Mingo, crawling the last several feet. Conine threw the ring toward Mingo, but it fell short. Having to cross a pressure ridge in the ice that was between them, Conine again threw the ring. Mingo secured a hold of it, but, lacking traction, Conine could not pull him out. The other employee joined him, and, bracing their feet into the slushy surface of the ice, they pulled Mingo out of the open water, the other employee breaking through the ice with his foot at one point. They dragged him away from the hole and toward the bank, where firefighters were responding. Conine and the other employee returned to the bank as firefighters removed Mingo from the ice by means of a hovercraft. He was taken to the hospital, where he was detained for treatment of hypothermia. He recovered.
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