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Family grateful to rescuers

Father recalls falling into Mosquito Lake Sunday

Special to the Tribune Chronicle Seven members of the Cusano family were rescued from the icy waters of Mosquito Lake on Sunday after the ice broke beneath their ice fishing shanty. From left are Garett Bright, 11; Haley Cusano, 17; Hunter Cusano, 7; Chloe Cusano, 13; father James Cusano, 38; mother, Eve Cusano, 33; Keegan Wallace, 10; Gavin Cusano, 7; and Brandon Cusano, 19. Haley and Chloe were not there Sunday when the accident happened.

James F. Cusano said he forever will be in debt to the people who came to his family’s rescue Sunday afternoon when the ice below a fishing shanty collapsed underneath them.

Cusano, 38, of Pierpont, was fishing with other members of his family on Mosquito Lake at 4:04 p.m. when a stepson, Keegan Wallace, tripped while getting into an ice fishing shanty tent and fell hard against the ice, cracking it, which caused it to open up.

“I immediately knew we were in trouble,” Cusano said. “Once we entered the water, I began yelling for my sons.”

Cusano’s wife, Eve, 33, and another son, Gavin, 7, immediately fell into the water.

James grabbed them, trying to keep their heads above water. He grabbed a chair to keep them buoyed up, but they both went under the water.

“We were weighed down,” he said. “There was so much happening in such a short amount of time. I was trying to keep track of my children. There were seven of us.”

James said his oldest son, Brandon, 19, who had been on the shore, immediately ran over to the shanty as he noticed it tipping over into the water.

“He ran over and pulled two of my sons, Garett (Bright) and Hunter, out of the water,” James said. “As he was pulling them out, he fell into the water.”

Brandon was able to pull himself back out of the water.

As James Cusano frantically worked to locate each of his family members, there were others on and around Mosquito Creek fishing who heard the screams as the family fell into the water.

Zachary Westrich, 23, of Wooster, just arrived at Mosquito Creek about 10 minutes earlier to meet a few of his friends and family for a day of fishing, when he heard screams. He looked over and saw a man’s head popping out of a shanty.

“I saw a little boy,” Westrich said. “I was given a rope. I got down on the ice and crawled towards the boy. I knew I had to spread my weight as much as possible, so the ice would not break. I crawled about 90 feet. I got as close as possible and threw the rope over to him.”

The boy wrapped it around himself, which allowed Westrich to pull him out of the water.

He pulled the boy back to a running truck parked on the edge of the creek.

“When I saw the boy in the water, who was the smallest of all the people there, I had to do something,” Westrich said. “I knew when he hit the water we had to act as quickly as possible. Every minute he was in the water there was less and less chance we would be able to save him.”

Someone with a hook pulled Eve Cusano out of the water.

Another person on edge of the water, Scott Oehlstrom, 54, of Lisbon, was preparing to leave when he also heard the screams. He called 911. He grabbed a rope that sat in the back of his truck for the past 10 years and handed it to Westrich.

“I’m just glad I had it,” Oehlstrom said. “I never used it before. It is just something people should have when they are ice fishing.”

Oehlstrom said ice fishermen always should have a spud bar, ice picks and a safety rope.

“I’m so grateful so many people were there,” James Cusano said. “I could have lost my entire family. They put themselves in harm’s way to save my family. I am overwhelmed. I was weeping as we were moving toward the docks.”

The whole incident did not take long.

“I was surprised how quickly emergency crews arrived,” Cusano said.

Cusano said he spoke to one of the rescuers, Rod Schaaf, when he went back to get his truck.

“We talked for quite a bit of time,” Cusano said. “I thanked him repeatedly. My father thanked him. My son thanked him. We’re so grateful.”

Cusano said he hopes to reach out to as many people as he can find who were a part of the rescue of his family.

“I want to do it personally,” he said. “If we can meet them, it would be great.”

Westrich said he hopes to one day meet the family, too.

“I just would like to meet them and make sure everyone is OK,” he said. “When you do something like this, you care about the people who are involved.”

Although he has been ice fishing for most of his life, Cusano said it may take some time before he goes back out on the ice. Eve said she is not going back.

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