River Rescue at the James River
February 26, 2003
by Carolyn N. Bradley
A short canoe trip gone awry last week led to a mid-river helicopter rescue the next day near Glasgow.
Ben Nester of Christiansburg, a senior at Liberty University, parked his truck at the boat landing at Glasgow on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 25, and launched his canoe on the James River with intentions of floating downstream to the next landing at Snowden. From there he planned to hitchhike a ride back to Glasgow to his truck.
Shortly after setting out on his journey, though, Nester realized that the river, swollen by recent heavy rains and melting snow, was more of a challenge than he had anticipated, and the waves soon capsized his canoe. He made it safely to a nearby island.
Ironically, this was only about 50 yards from where a daring rescue took place in May 2001. At that time, two young men were attempting to kayak down a James swollen from heavy rains. One man made it safely to a rock while the other made it to shore and secured help.
During that rescue effort by the Naval Air Search and Rescue Group, not only did the man on the rock have to rescued, but one of the Glasgow squad members who had tried to get to the man by jet ski ended up in need of rescue himself.
In Nester's case, there was no companion to go to shore for help. He remained stranded on the island overnight amid falling snow and below freezing temperatures. Interviewed later, Nester said he made a shelter with rocks, driftwood, sticks, leaves, an old tire and debris, which, he said, "kept me pretty insulated from the cold." He was also wearing a wetsuit and fleece outer garments.
He added that he did move about periodically during the night to keep the blood flowing in his fingers and toes.
Nester said he thought about four things during the night. "First, God. ... I prayed all night that God would take care of the situation. Second, my family and girlfriend. I was worried sick about them. I knew that they would think I was dead. Third, warm showers, and, fourth, warm cups of coffee."
The search for Nester did not begin until 6:45 Wednesday morning, after a Rockbridge County sheriff's deputy had found Nester's truck parked at the boat landing. The Glasgow First Aid and Life Saving Crew and the Glasgow Fire Department were dispatched to the James River, under the leadership of first assistant fire chief Richard Spangler.
Also on the scene of the search were a swift-water rescue team from Salem and special enforcement officers for Rockbridge County, Bob Weikel and Chris Norris.
Big Island emergency crews were also dispatched to begin a search of the river banks from that area toward Snowden. With the height and swiftness of the river, they feared anyone in the river could have been quickly washed downstream.
Members of the Glasgow Fire Department lined the railroad track area to search the river banks from Glasgow to Snowden. Some members of the rescue team were located at the boat landing, while others situated themselves at a pull-off spot on U.S. 501/Va. 130 where they could see the river below.
It was here, between 8:30 and 9 a.m that Chrissy Rogers of the rescue squad spotted something moving on an island in the river. When the crew turned on the siren of the their vehicle, Nester jumped up and down and waved his arms.
Rescuers, who did not want a repeat of the 2001 rescue, tried first to secure a helicopter to rescue Nester. If a helicopter had not been obtained, the team from Salem would have had to be sent in.
Lynchburg Med 10 was called, but the weather was too bad for the helicopter to fly. A Virginia State Police helicopter from Richmond, however, was able to fly to the scene and by approximately 10 a.m. the pilot actually landed on the island to pick up a chilled, tired, but otherwise all right, Nester from his overnight accommodations.
He was airlifted to the nearby carnival grounds where a landing zone had been set up by members of the Buena Vista Fire Department who had been on standby at the Glasgow fire station.
Nester's family had been notified and were waiting for him when he arrived. His mother told her son, "First I'm going to hug you, then I'm going to punch you!"
Nester refused transport to the hospital to be checked out, but was taken to the Glasgow fire station on Powhatan Street where associate members of the fire department had sandwiches and drinks prepared for the rescue workers and Nester and his family.
Nester said later, "For a few minutes right after I fell in, I felt uncertain and I had thoughts of, `This could be it,' but after I got on the island, I not once thought that I wouldn't make it."
He said of his launching a canoe into the swollen river on Tuesday, "What I did was extremely irresponsible. I hope that anyone reading this can learn from my mistakes. What I did was very stupid."
Carolyn Bradley is the Glasgow community correspondent for The News-Gazette.
The Med-Flight helicopter makes its approach to the scene.
The patient, Ben Nester, is standing on a rocky island in the James River.
Med-Flight makes its landing and Ben is taken aboard.
Following the rescue, Ben (center) meets up with his family at the fire station for a warm breakfast and beverage.