Delaware River claims another victim

Divers, a dog and a television camera help recover drowning victim

By FRITZ MAYER

SPARROWBUSH, NY — The body of 19-year-old Martin McDonough was pulled from the Delaware River on Thursday, February 16, some 22 hours after his canoe capsized and tossed him into the frigid, turbulent waters. He and a friend, 21-year-old Louis Puopolo, had come from their homes in Matamoras, PA to go fishing at Sparrowbush. Puopolo somehow made it to shore, but McDonough did not.

The search for McDonough, called off Wednesday evening when it became too dark to continue, resumed Thursday morning, as friends and family watched dozens of rescuers resume the search.

After talking to the Poupolos the night before, the incident commander, Jack Flynn of the Sparrowbush Fire Department, was fairly sure McDonough’s body would be in the river alongside Eddy Farm Retreat. Flynn has been a diver for 33 years. “After a while,” he said, “you get a feel for where to look.”

A body-recovery dog, Shamus, in a rescue boat, took the first pass at the area believed to contain McDonough’s body. With the ability to smell a human scent as it passes through the water, Shamus might have been able to end the recovery effort quickly. But it did not happen at that way.

Other boats joined in the search, and helicopters from both the Pennsylvania and New York state police departments probed up and down river, in case the victim had been washed away from the area.

Then the divers entered the water slowly, gradually getting used to the frigid temperatures. Flynn said the divers were also checking their equipment to make sure everything was working properly. “The regulators can freeze open when the water is that cold,” said Flynn.

All of the divers in the rescue and recovery teams are certified. Certification can take weeks or months, depending on how the courses are structured. There is additional training to master the procedures of the various fire departments. All the divers in the water in this recovery were volunteers, many with years of experience.

Divers often get called out when there is no emergency. For instance, said Dingman Township fire chief Bill Mikulak, “someone sees a boat floating upside down, and they think there may have been someone in the boat.” They get calls like that.

One thing that all the divers and searchers agree on: everyone on the water should wear a life jacket. The water temperature at the time of the incident was 37 degrees, so there’s no guarantee that McDonough would have survived if he’d been wearing a life jacket, but it would have given him a better chance.

“When your body hits water that cold, you breathe in water involuntarily,” said Flynn, “and it all goes down from there.”

Should people simply avoid the river when the water is so cold? Sparrowbush fire chief Carl Van Horn said, “I wouldn’t want to deny anyone a chance to go fishing, but every precaution should be taken.”

As the morning turned into afternoon, Shamus was back on the water again. He “alerted,” indicating he was picking up the scent. Also, searchers were using an underwater television camera, and the operator thought he saw a glimpse of the victim’s hand in the same area. Divers then focused on that spot. At about 1:30 p.m., divers found the body.

It may seem like a dismal task, but the divers don’t see it that way. Mikulak said, “It brings closure to the victim’s family and that’s a very good feeling.”

There have been 49 drownings since 1980 in the Delaware River from Hancock to Sparrowbush.