A 55-year-old Cypress man drowned in Canyon Lake around 6 p.m. today after he decided to jump off a boat and swim 40 yards to shore near Boat Ramp #23.
Canyon Lake Fire/EMS Chief Robert Mikel said the boat drove away but a woman walking her dog heard his cries for help. The man was struggling in the water. The woman waded into chest-deep water to pull him to shore.
“She reported that he was still conscious and asking for help when she reached him but had become unconscious by the time they reached the shoreline,” he said.
CPR was performed until Canyon Lake Fire/EMS arrived and transported the man to Resolute Hospital in New Braunfels, where he was pronounced dead.
Mikel said the man was part of a group that had rented a boat.
This is the fourth serious water emergency — and second death — Canyon Lake Fire/EMS has responded to since Saturday, Mikel said.
Boat Ramp #23 is off N. Cranes Mill Rd. on the north side of Canyon Lake.
Sunday’s Drowning
A man in his 40s drowned around 4:34 p.m. Sunday while wearing a personal-flotation device. The man, who entered the water from a boat, did not know how to swim.
Mikel said friends noticed he was face down and still wearing his life jacket when they pulled him from the water.
The drowning occurred near Boat Ramp #7 and Party Cove.
Mikel said Fire Rescue Boat Marine 53 was already on the lake working another emergency call when rescuers responded and found him aboard a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) game warden’s boat. CPR was in progress.
The man was transported to a waiting ambulance at Boat Ramp #2.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Last Weekend’s Near Drownings
Around 7:30 p.m. Sunday Canyon Lake firefighters responded to reports of a near drowning close to Boat Ramp No. 6.
A 29-year-old man was aboard a boat that was pulling a tube. He decided to jump into the lake and help a person who fell off the tube.
Mikel said the rope used to tow the tube wrapped around the boat’s propeller, making it impossible for the boat to turn around and pick him up.
The man was not wearing a life jacket and tired quickly, going under the surface of the water.
A pontoon boat picked the man up and brought him to Boat Ramp No. 6 where EMS began treatment. He was transported to Christus Santa Rosa-San Marcos Hospital in serious condition.
Around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Canyon Lake rescuers were dispatched to Comal Park for reports of a possible drowning victim pulled from the water.
A Comal County Pct. 4 constable performed CPR until help arrived. Rescuers were able to regain a pulse on a woman in her late 20s.
She was was transported to Christus Santa Rosa-New Braunfels.
He was calling for help and responsive when reached by the individual. That is a not a drowning.
They should just close the lake to swimmers with all these drownings going on. That lake is possessed…SHUT IT DOWN