Kliever man meets girl he rescued 25 years ago

Winston "Joe" Blakely Jr., left, hugs Angela Winston, a woman he rescued from a boating accident 25 years prior, on July 17 in Sabula, Iowa. (Submitted photo)
Winston "Joe" Blakely Jr., left, hugs Angela Winston, a woman he rescued from a boating accident 25 years prior, on July 17 in Sabula, Iowa. (Submitted photo)

KLIEVER, Mo. -- Miracles can happen.

Winston "Joe" Blakely Jr., said he was fortunate to be involved in one.

Blakely, a Kliever resident, said he was in the right place at the right time (25 years ago) when he saved the life of a 11-year-old girl. Blakely saved Angela Winston after she was struck by a boat June 22, 1997, on the Mississippi River at Sabula, Iowa, a small town located on an island between Iowa and Illinois.

The two hadn't seen each other since, but reunited July 17 at a campground near the site of the accident.

The incident

Blakely was 33 years old when he; his future wife, Dena; and Doug and Kim Sturtevant all took a vacation in 1997. Blakely worked for Micro Switch, now Honeywell, in Freeport, Illinois, where he previously completed first aid recertification less than a week prior.

While getting into a car to leave for a bait shop, Blakely and Doug Sturtevant heard someone yell "A girl just got hit by a boat!"

As the Sturtevants tried to call 911, Blakely's mind turned to rescue mode.

"I don't remember who it was, I just hollered for Dena and Kim to try calling 911 and I took off running," Blakely said. "They swore I ran on top of water. I was just trying to get out to get to the girl."

Winston's father and brother worked to brought the girl to shore, where Blakely went into action. First, he checked her vitals -- breathing and pulse -- to discover how dire the situation was.

"I knew that it had to be bad," he said. "People just don't get hit by boats and things turn out real easy. They just don't."

After two chest compressions, Winston started gurgling.

"I was getting ready to clear her airway and that's when I heard the gurgling and the gasp and stuff," Blakely said. The gurgles meant the chest compressions worked, allowing Winston to start breathing again.

The situation remained dire. Winston was losing blood. She needed immediate medical attention, but the 911 system kept routing calls to Maquoketa, Iowa, the county seat located approximately 25 miles away.

As the ambulances arrived, a pediatrician who happened to also be vacationing in Sabula, Greg Kolb, followed for additional assistance.

Arguments ensued between the two EMS teams. A Savanna EMS team wanted to drive Winston by ambulance to a hospital in Clinton, Iowa, about 15 miles south of Sabula. At the time, others felt airlifting Winston to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, approximately 75 miles away, was the better option. The call was made to make the trip by ambulance.

Winston's life was likely spared by the decision to make the trip by ambulance to Clinton.

"If she was in a helicopter, she would've died en route to Iowa City, so it was lucky that she went by ambulance to Clinton, Iowa, which is just south of Sabula," Blakely said. "(At) Clinton, ... they gave her so many blood infusions and transfusions to get blood into her and then med-flighted her to Iowa City." Had Winston been airlifted from Sabula to Iowa City, she may have not made it.

"There were so many things that worked out so good."

The reunification

Since that hot June day, the incident has stuck with Blakely.

"I've pulled people out of accidents, I used to work for a wrecker company," he said. "I've had two people in my lifetime that I've witnessed them having heart attacks while driving and wreck and I've been the first one to arrive on scene and pull them out of vehicles and do CPR. ... None of them affected me like it did with her."

Trying to discover the end of the story, Blakely searched the internet in the years since to see if he could find Winston. He searched online, but was still unable to locate her. In fact, he couldn't find any trace of the incident online.

In May, Blakely's luck changed.

He finally found Winston on Facebook when she reverted to her maiden name. To verify it was truly her, Blakely took advantage of another helpful coincidence: His neighbor's daughter-in-law formerly worked with Winston in Illinois.

After learning the woman on Facebook was the same person he rescued more than two decades prior, Blakely and Winston started messaging each other. After a week, Blakely finally popped an important question: "Would they be able to meet?"

And they did meet on July 17 for the first time since the incident. Joining Blakely and Winston was Dena Blakely, now Joe Blakely's wife; Ryan Brashaw, Angela's boyfriend; and Louis Winston, Angela's father.

"It really felt like we had been friends for a long time and there was that connection with us," Joe Blakely said. "Angela looks at me like her angel and I don't think I am. I think I'm just a person that did the right thing at the right time. I'm thankful I was there."

  photo  Submitted photo — Ryan Brashaw, Winston "Joe" Blakely Jr., Dena Blakely, Angela Winston and Louis Winston pose for a photo July 17 in Savanna, Illinois. Joe Blakely rescued Angela Winston on June 22, 1997, after she was struck by a boat on the Mississippi River when she was 11 years old.