Law enforcement rescues stranded kayakers at Skiatook Lake

By KOCO Staff

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    SKIATOOK, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Law enforcement rescued two people who got stranded while kayaking over the weekend at Skiatook Lake in northeastern Oklahoma.

Around 9 p.m. on Feb. 19, the Osage County Sheriff’s Office responded to a distress call from a woman who said she and a man were stranded in the water at Skiatook Lake. Authorities said the two were on capsized kayaks that had lost buoyancy and barely supported their body weight.

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The two were located near the Osage Park Boat Dock without life jackets, and the woman said they didn’t know how to swim.

Authorities found the two about 150-175 yards from shore. Osage County Sheriff’s Office officials said Sgt. Jeremiah Godfrey grabbed some rope and a life jacket, swam toward the two and gave them one end of the rope as he swam to shore.

Deputy Kenneth Underwood, Osage Nation Officer Sam Soutter and other officers helped get the three to safety.

The man and the woman suffered from extreme exhaustion and hypothermia, and EMS personnel treated the two at the scene.

“Thankfully, the kayakers were able to call 911 before their phone got wet, or this would have been a potentially different outcome,” Osage County Sheriff’s Office officials posted to social media.

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