STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
VERMONT STATE POLICE
CASE#: 24A5001985
RANK/TROOPER FULL NAME: Detective Trooper Steven Fauteux, Trooper James Gallup
STATION: Derby Barracks
CONTACT#: 802-334-8881
DATE/TIME: 11:18 a.m. Friday, April 19, 2024
INCIDENT LOCATION: North Shore Road on Holland Pond, Holland, VT
INCIDENT TYPE: Lifesaving rescue
VICTIM: Kevin Foerster
AGE: 37
CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Barre City, VT
SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:
Two Vermont State Police troopers rescued a man from dangerously cold water Friday morning, April 19, 2024, after his canoe capsized on Holland Pond in northeastern Vermont.
A witness called police just before 11:20 a.m. and reported seeing a capsized canoe and a person in the water waving for help more than 150 feet from her location at a private residence on North Shore Road. The man, who was not wearing a life vest, was clinging to the overturned boat. Strong winds and waves were pushing the man further from land.
Detective Trooper Steven Fauteux and Trooper James Gallup, accompanied by a crew from Newport Ambulance, were the first to arrive on scene, within about 15 minutes of the call. Trooper Gallup donned a life vest, entered the water, and swam toward the overturned boat. Detective Fauteux, meanwhile, located a pedal-powered paddleboat at the private residence, removed several protective tarps, launched the boat with assistance from an EMS crew member, and pedaled out to the middle of the lake.
Trooper Gallup was first to reach the victim, later identified as 37-year-old Kevin Foerster of Barre City, and helped him stay afloat until Detective Fauteux arrived. Trooper Gallup and Foerster grabbed onto the paddleboat, and Detective Fauteux began pedaling back toward shore, where a crew from the Derby Line Fire Department had arrived and launched a rescue raft.
“You good, sir?” Detective Fauteux asked the victim, as captured on a recording from the trooper’s body-worn camera.
“I’m cold,” Foerster replied.
“I’ll pedal as fast as I can. The boat’s coming,” the detective said.
The paddleboat rendezvoused with the rescue raft, where the Derby Line crew and a game warden from the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife brought Foerster and Trooper Gallup aboard and returned them to shore. The crew then returned to the paddleboat, brought Detective Fauteux aboard, secured the paddleboat and motored back to land.
Foerster was evaluated by rescue as a precaution. A dog that was with him in the canoe drowned before first responders arrived.
The Vermont State Police was assisted in this incident by members of Newport Ambulance, the Derby Line Fire Department and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Body-camera footage of this rescue is available for download at this link. Several still photos from the video are attached to this release.
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