A Medford family has a lot to be thankful for this evening, after their boat started to submerge into the Rogue River. The boat fortunately landed on top of a rock but left the family stranded.
It was in this boat that Ken Evangelisti and his 4 children were grounded for nearly an hour waiting on crews to rescue them.
“We were coming down and it got pretty hairy and we hit a rock in the front end and it turned us sideways, we drifted down a little bit more and it hung us down on that big rock. Thank god that rock was there because it was filling up with water,” said Evangelisti.
The water rushing past felt much colder to them then the actual 46 degrees. Evangelisti’s son Steven luckily had his cell phone stored in a Ziploc bag and they were able to call for help.
“After about an hour, the people were able to come over and brought us in,” said AnthonyEvangelisti.
Officials say with warmer weather just around the corner this is a good reminder of the safety precautions everyone needs to take when getting out on the water.
“As a minimum, have the right equipment with you,” said Rod Edwards.
Luckily everyone there was wearing a life jacket. Crews also say you should let someone know where and how long you plan to be out on the water.
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