By Robert Lee Long
DeSoto Times-Tribune
ARKABUTLA, Miss. — Two young duck hunters stranded at Arkabutla Lake were rescued by an off-duty Horn Lake firefighter and a former Horn Lake firefighter now employed with the City of Memphis.
Horn Lake Fire Chief David Linville said Michael Mueller and Cody Jenne responded to a situation at Coldwater Point at Arkabutla Lake this past Monday when Mueller heard shouts of someone in distress.
“I thought they were yelling at a dog first but then I got closer to the yelling and heard it was a cry for help,” Mueller, a driver/operator for the Horn Lake Fire Department said Wednesday.
“I then got in my boat and went over to the yelling and saw that there were two kids in the trees and their boat had sunk,” Mueller said. “I then approached the kids and informed them not to jump in the boat but to wait and I would come and get them, so the boat would not be overtaken.”
Mueller then picked up one of the boys and another boater picked up the other youth.
Mueller placed the boys inside his truck to get them warm and contacted another paramedic to make sure the youths received proper care.
Mueller then helped the pair locate their hunting weapons and other possessions.
“I’m very proud of both of them,” Linville said. “They both did a great job. He (Mueller) was at the right place at the right time. If they had stayed in the water a half hour longer then hypothermia would have set in,” Linville said.
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