"Man Who Almost Drowned Meets Rescuers" (from WKOWTV-27)

Michael Warren had made the jump into the Wisconsin River dozens of times, but on Sunday [May 28], he got caught in the current. "All of a sudden I just went underwater and I don't remember anything when I went underwater." Warren says.

His friends tried to save him. "Every time I'd put him up, I'd move him a couple feet toward the shore and then I'd go under for a while," said friend Michael Richards. Richards also lost the strength to fight the current, so he went back to grab a life preserver, and remembers Warren trying to grab his leg as he swam away. Soon, several strangers came to help. Warren regained consciousness on shore, and spent the night in the hospital, then realized he did not know several of the people who saved him, and he wanted to say thank you.

27 News was there when Warren met Darin Persinger (28) of Wisconsin Dells, a former lifeguard. When Persinger reached Warren, he was already unconscious.

"Thanks a lot man." Warren told Persinger with a handshake and a hug.

"No problem," Persinger said, "Glad you're OK."


Persinger demonstrated how he pulled Warren from the water, trying to keep him from taking in even more water. "I came underneath like this (behind the head) so I could try to keep his head above water as much as possible."

Curt Wipperfurth of Waunakee also came to the rescue. "I was trying to keep his head above water to get him to shore, but I was fighting the current too." These three strangers are now forever bound, by a close call Warren wishes never happened. "I was scared, I thought I was gonna die for sure."

Thanks to the help of several strangers!, he didn't.