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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016 Rescuers: ‘The drama on the lakefront was heartbreaking’ Continued from Page 1A Wyland and the Walkers were watching the Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers when, at around 4 p.m., the ordeal began. “Tim looked out the window and said, ‘Oh my God, that ca- QRH MXVW ÀLSSHG RYHU¶´ %ULDQ said. “We looked out, and, yep, there was an upside-down canoe in the lake.” They charged outside and as- sessed the situation. “I yelled, ‘Do you need help?’” Kyle Walker said. “And the kid is saying, ‘My daddy’s underwater!’” As Kyle Walker called 911, Heather dived into the water and swam eastward toward the SDLUÀRXQGHULQJPRUHWKDQ feet away, near the middle of the narrow lake. The brothers XQKRRNHGDQHLJKERU¶VÀRDWLQJ dock; Tim grabbed an oar, Brian a two-by-four, and together they rowed out. “If you were to look at it in real time, it wasn’t that long,” Brian said. “It felt like forever.” Heartbreaking Harkless had attempted to turn the canoe upright and crawl back into it, but to no avail. “It looked like a rolling log, water splashing everywhere,” Brian said. “He expended a lot of ener- gy very fast,” he said. “It was a matter of, maybe, three minutes before he was gone.” “The dad was gone before Heather even got halfway out there,” Kyle Walker said. Meanwhile, they could hear, from across the lake, Harkless’ wife. “The mother comes out and (is) screaming, ‘That’s my husband!’” Kyle Walker con- tinued. “The drama on the lake- front was heartbreaking.” When Heather reached Lo- gan, she tried to comfort and console him while holding onto the canoe. Tim and Brian hoisted the boy and Heather RQWRWKHÀRDWLQJGRFN%\WKH time the group reached the far shore on the property of ab- sent homeowners, Logan was showing signs of possible hy- pothermia. “There was very little color in his skin. His body core was trying to conserve as much heat as it could,” said Brian, a former emergency medical technician. “He did not have a lot of time left. He’s honestly lucky to be alive today.” Brave young man Tim removed Logan’s life jacket and replaced the boy’s wet sweatshirt with his dry one. When the medics arrived min- utes later, they wrapped blan- kets around Logan and Heath- er, who rode in the ambulance together. “(Logan) was in shock,” Bri- an said. The Clatsop County Sher- LII¶V 2I¿FH WKH :DUUHQWRQ SR- OLFHDQG¿UHGHSDUWPHQWVDQGWKH U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria arrived on scene to assist in rescue and recovery. That evening, the county ma- rine patrol and dive team located and recovered Harkless’ body a short distance from where he went under. He wasn’t wearing D SHUVRQDO ÀRWDWLRQ GHYLFH WKH VKHULII¶VRI¿FHVDLG “In water temperature like this, it’s a one-way trip down, unfortunately,” Brian said. Heather, a 52-year-old grandmother who took to the ZDWHUZLWKRXWDÀRWDWLRQGHYLFH was treated at the hospital. “She was in no shape to get out in that g--damn water, but she did it anyway,” Kyle Walker said. She added, however, that +HDWKHUVHHPHG¿QHSK\VLFDOO\ and was “more concerned about how Logan was doing.” Heather and Tim, a Salem couple, did not want to be in- terviewed at length, but Heath- er left a note: “Logan’s parents would be proud of him for being such a brave young man.” Relieved yet sorry From the pile of wet clothes left behind, somehow Logan’s sweatshirt ended up with Brian and Kyle Walker. On Monday afternoon, Brian tried to take it to the Harkless family — whom they’d never met before — but nobody was home. “They don’t know us from Adam. They don’t know Heath- er from Adam,” Kyle Walker said. “I’m a mother, and I don’t know that I could take that extra input, you know? I don’t know that I could.” Still, she added, “I wish I could give that mother a big hug.” All four of the rescuers wish they could have done more. Though they weren’t exactly numb to the experience Sunday night, Monday night was “prob- ably going to be a little harder,” Brian said. “It’s never something you can just ignore, you know? We feel terrible for the family,” he said, his voice starting to break. “I mean, 27-year-old guy, just getting started... We just feel absolutely horrible for them, and relieved that we were able to save Logan, but so sorry we weren’t able to get there for Kyle.” Ashley: ‘I’ve done so much to strive for achievement in my life’ “For my entire life, he switched between the Alert and The award goes to six chil- Steadfast,” Fish said, adding dren, one for each military her father worked in the engine EUDQFK)LVKLVRQHRIVHPL¿- rooms until retiring when she nalists for the Coast Guard. She was 12. On average, previous recipi- LVRQHRIWZRVHPL¿QDOLVWVIURP Oregon, along with National ents of the Military Child of the Guard child Lily Moser from Year Award have had at least one parent deploy for 18 months Portland. Fish’s father, Robert, retired or longer and have relocated at in 2008 after nearly 30 years in OHDVW¿YHWLPHVGXHWRDSDUHQW¶V the Coast Guard. A child of an military assignments, according Air Force family, she said he to Operation Homefront. De- didn’t want her family to experi- spite his being stationed close to ence moving across the country home, Fish said her father missed about half her childhood while with each deployment. Continued from Page 1A he was enlisted, adding that as a child, she had trouble recogniz- ing him in between deployments. “Even though he wasn’t home with me, I knew he was protect- ing the country,” she said. about 10 courses, seven of them at the high school and several honors-level, while holding a 3.96 GPA. She takes a yoga and RQOLQH¿WQHVVFRXUVHWKURXJKWKH college, along with a stress and depression management course as part of the college’s Lives in Thirst for knowledge ³,¶PDJRRG¿WIRULWEHFDXVH Transition student support pro- I’ve done so much to strive for gram. “I thought that would be achievement in my life,” Fish interesting, because I eventually said about her pursuit of Military want to be a criminologist,” she Child of the Year. “I almost don’t said. As part of the Military Child know why. I really just like learn- ing … and having all the possible of the Year award, Fish said she was asked about her leadership knowledge I can attain.” She is currently enrolled in ability. She mentioned to her interviewers F1shSt1ckz, the award-winning Lego robotics team she helped create at War- renton Grade School, a team named in her honor. Fish also takes part in her high school’s robotics team, building underwater robots and competing against other schools around the state. Since her sophomore year, she has worked in the district’s tech- nology department, helping prepare computers for students over the summer, and repairing them during the school year. Fish also volunteers with the Clatsop County Animal Shelter. Heading back to school to- day, Fish is gathering recom- mendations for her bid to be a ¿QDOLVWLQWKH0LOLWDU\&KLOGRI the Year award. Each of the six recipients of the award receive a $10,000 scholarship, a laptop and a trip to Washington, D.C., for an awards gala in April. Ultimately for Fish, winning is a pragmatic endeavor to help her satiate her thirst for knowl- edge, which stretches toward a master’s and possibly a doctorate in criminology. “I’ll need every bit of funding I can get,” she said. West: It’s unlikely federal land will be turned over to states, counties Continued from Page 1A rule, which farmers and ranch- ers say gives the feds control over what Walden called “ev- ery stock pond and intermittent ditch.” Walden said the vote sends a “very clear message” to the Obama administration about environmental “overreach.” The Senate approved a sim- ilar measure in November, but the White House has threatened to veto it. Congress is unlikely to assemble the two-thirds major- ities required to override a veto, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, Walden said it’s unlikely federal land will be turned over to the states or coun- ties, as many in the West favor. But he and others said a number of incremental changes would help matters. For start- ers, the statute requiring the ¿YH\HDU PDQGDWRU\ PLQLPXP sentence for Dwight and Steven Hammond, the Harney County ranchers at the center of the issue, could be revised, Walden said. He said the statute was writ- ten after the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and was aimed at acts of domestic terrorism that damage IHGHUDOSURSHUW\7KH¿UHVVHWE\ the Hammonds burned acreage managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. “But in Oregon, the punishment doesn’t ¿WWKLVFULPH´KHVDLG The idea received support at the recent American Farm Bu- reau Federation convention in Orlando, Florida. Delegates approved a policy recommendation that Congress prohibit prosecution of farmers and ranchers under federal an- ti-terrorism statutes for common Need help getting health insurance by Jan. 31? Get free local help! SHOP + ENROLL, OREGON! 503 -325- 0 1 54 503- 440-3909 5 03- 861- 0728 CLATSOP H EA LTH .CO M DUGANINS.CO M IN S U RAN C ESTO RES.CO M agricultural practices, like set- ting backburns to protect their SURSHUW\IURPZLOG¿UHV If this threat isn’t neutralized, it will have a “chilling effect” on farm practices among grow- ers who fear facing mandatory minimum prison sentences, said Barry Bushue, the Oregon Farm Bureau president.
