JASON CLARK / Courier & Press Warrick County Deputy Sheriff Randy Merta, 45, of Chandler, Ind., was rescued from the Ohio River near South Green River Road on Wednesday afternoon.

EVANSVILLE — An off-duty Warrick County Sheriff's Office deputy was rescued from the Ohio River on Wednesday evening after spending more than 30 minutes in the frigid water.

Randy Merta, 45, of Chandler, Ind., was scouting potential fishing sites when his 22-foot boat struck something in the water and he was thrown overboard, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Rescue crews from Knight Township Fire Department, the Sheriff's Office and Evansville Police Department responded to a call at 4:48 p.m. believed to be from an employee of JH Rudolph & Co. Inc.


JASON CLARK / Courier & Press Paramedics stabilize Warrick County Deputy Sheriff Raymond Merta who was rescued after falling from a boat into the Ohio River near a coal dock on South Green River Road in Evansville.
The caller said the man had been in the water for about 25 minutes, and he and others were unable to reach him, according to the release.

Emergency crews sought the assistance of a tugboat from the Ohio Valley Marine Service to get Merta out of the river.

Marine Service worker Cody Wallace said the tugboat was about one mile away from Merta at the time they were contacted by authorities to assist in the rescue.

When they arrived, Merta, who was wearing a flotation device, had reached the bank of the river and was holding onto a flotation device, but he advised rescuers that he was unable to hold onto it much longer.

The temperature of the river was recorded at 32 degrees Wednesday at J.P. Myers Lock and Dam at Mount Vernon, Ind.

He was retrieved from the water near the coal docks off Old Green River Road.

According to police, Merta was conscious and later transported to St. Mary's Medical Center after showing signs of hypothermia.

St. Mary's officials said Merta was treated in the emergency room but not admitted as a patient.

Randy Merta aka Netman. I am a current deputy sheriff and have been for 20 yrs and I also commercial fish the Ohio River to pay for my daughters college education. I had installed the 997 yesterday and went to the river to run my nets and get to know my unit.
Upon arriving at the river I turned the unit on and cruised down river with a great big smile on my face. I was checking out all that I could see and was totally impressed. Well I realized that I needed to get on down river to run my nets so I could cruise back because it was getting late in the day. I went several miles and ran a couple sets of nets. I then turned back up river and was slow rolling messing with different buttons checking out the different features. I was getting late and I decided to power up and head to the ramp which was about five miles further up the water. I was in the middle of the river running 44 mph and the water temp was 32.8 when I struck something underwater causing my boat to turn 90 degrees to the left throwing me from the boat. The first thing to come to mind was i hope the boat is going straight ahead. And it was 'right straight at me'. The boat was now doing 40mph circles and this was right on top of me. I know the boat came and struck me several times. I was finally able to swim away from the death circle. Is a long way to the bank not to mention the waves that were being created by my boat were 2-3 feet and rolling over my head. I had no life jacket on and was loaded down with heavy cloths under my Helly Hanson bibs and jacket. I wanted to shed my heavy cloths but went through a struggle to get the jacket off. I then thought I need to splash some air under my cloths to get some floatation. With the bibs on I could not. I thougtht I needed the energy to swim to the bank and not removing cloths. So I back stroked to the bank angling down river. I prayed to God to be with me and give me strength to reach the bank. I then starting thinking of what I needed to do once I got to shore because I knew I was in a remote area. I kept paddling and paddling and went way past where I thought I was going to land on the shore and that caused me concern. I kept on paddling and I thought I heard someone and it was a guy on the bank. He rooted me on and to keep talking to him. He told me help was on the way but the area I was at was a coal/rock loading dock and the bank was behind barges. I struggled to grab something to take a rest but was unable to get ahold of anything. I got caught in a eddy and started going back out into the river. I knew I needed to pick it up and I swam with the current until the guys could get me a throw ring. I gladly caught the ring and took a break. The guy told me a barge was on the way with a rescue crew. They arrived a short time later and tried to pull me up with the ring but was unable. They did not know I weigh 280lbs. They were able to get several guys and pull me up onto the tug. Boy was I glad to say the least. I was shaking so out of control but knew that it was going to be O.K.
Upon arriving at the hospital my core temp was in the low 90's. I was there for several hours and then released.
I know now to never power my boat unless I have a life jacket on and my kill switch cord attached and I encourage others to learn from this at my expense.
The rescue crew told me my boat was sunk and I told them no way and it was out there. While in the hospital they called and said they found it. My wife called my buddys and they went and pulled it home with my rig.
When I got home from the hospital I looked at see what or if there was any sign of damage.
I found my brand new transducer was torn from the boat with part of it still attached to the bracket. There was not even a scratch on the lower unit. The only damage so far is the 997 transducer.
Boy am I glad to be typing this and Thank the Lord for his blessing. I reached the shore approx 2 1/2 miles from where I was thrown out.
Randy Merta

damn. bet ur balls were the size of bb's.


hate to hear it, but i know this experiance will only make u appreciate things more.

i'm guesin the boat finally ran out of gas or got hot and shut down?



shake it off and get ur butt up to canada and whack and stack!!!!!!


glad to hear ur ok, holler if i can help.

Randy,

Elated that you made it through that ordeal basically unscathed. Let that be a lesson to us all, that wearing a life jacket and the kill switch can save your life. You never know what is lurking under the waters we run.

John

Good Lord Mr. Merta i'm at a loss for words!

Thank God everything worked out for you.

Holy crap Randy, glad to hear you are ok man.

I'm glad your okay bro. Please guys always wear kill switches and life jackets glad you've made a full recovery it sounds like.

Glad the "Big Man" was lookin out for you !

Life Jacket - Life Jacket - Life Jacket

I was broken hearted earlier this year when I read a story of a man
and his young son - the man was thrown overboard and knocked
un-concious - the young son wearing a life jacket went in after his
dad and despite using all his strength and heart - lacked the strength
to save his un-concious dad - kissed him and had to let him go or
loose his own life....

Randy, way to keep the fight up to get to shore! Thats one thing about us fellars, I think we can handle ourselves in extreme situations if we had too.

Glad you are doing better and will keep in my thoughts and prayers.

Glad to hear you are doing well...Rivers are the devil.

Got my life jacket drapped around my grab bar....Think I will put it on next rip out. Thanks Randy, tough way to learn a lesson, but your experience may have just saved several lives with the major cold front coming down south this weekend. Glad everything turned out well.

Glad your ok son, that was a very close call. Same thing happened here a couple months ago and they still haven't found the guys body. Probably never will at this point.

Damn Randy. I'm glad to hear you are okay.

That could hve ended very badly

Glad to hear you are okay. It goes to show you no matter how experienced you are, things happen and we need to be prepared for them.

Nuthin' but Love from the Brooks' to you Randy !!!


Now ~ Like the DeadAnimals posted ..... git back on that horse and ride !!

Wow, that's some scary stuff right there!

Glad to hear you're ok man, welcome back!

I appreciate the kind words. I have vowed to never be underpower without a life jacket and kill switch cord. It happened so quick and I can't say how happy I am to be here and telling the story.
DA your right about the bb's. The rescue squad cut off all of my Helly Hanson gear, my winter weight underarmor, my debander hooded sweatshirt and my underarmor hoodie too. I'm hoping my lacrosse boots are somewhere. My wife had to go buy me some cloths to get home.
It was refreshing to say the least.
Randy

glad to hear your ok bud.

GOT DAM SON!!!! I got goose bumps reading that!!! I am very happy you made it out alive.

Glad to hear your alright man..my dad got thrown out of our mudboat 1 mornin into the mud that was the most scared i have ever been when i looked back and saw my dad in the mud/water

Catch any fish?

Glad to hear you made it....now you have a story to tell for the rest of your life

Glad to hear all is well! I personally experienced a very similar situation about 10 years ago. Nothing is more scary then having a a boat full throttle and coming streight at you while doing everything you can to keep those boots from pulling you to the bottom and trying to figure out how the **** you are going to get yourself out of that situation you just put yourself into. I can only imagine doing it in those temps. You will never forget that day, but like alot of other situations we escape in life, it will definatly give you a reality check on just how quick things can turn from great to bad in an instant with absolutly no warning. I often think about that day and can only thank God and the fella that jumped off a bridge into my boat for saving my life. We definatly find a hidden piece of ourselves when faced with a life or death situation.

Glad to be talking with you today!

Dang man, glad to hear your ok. thats scary stuff. LIFE JACKET AND KILL SWITCH

Tell the truth.....you found a dead gator and was leaning over the side to pull a tooth and fell out of the boat

You should re title the thread to "Holy Shit!, Almost died and I got in the newspaper"

HOLY $HIT! Glad you are still with us brother. Funny how you the one time you don't put on the jacket or kill switch it happens huh? I went into the death slide in the airboat and got ejected. Was glad to have the kill switch and jacket on. Lesson learned that day. Again, glad you are still with us!!!!

Justin my dad was the 1 driving

I'm relieved to hear that you made it out of that one, Randy. I have watched from the bank as this has happened to a friend of mine. He was driving my boat & got thrown (no kill switch, but full neoprene). He was struck by the boat prop once before getting away from the spinning boat and swimming 1/2 mile to shore in 30 degree weather. I have always worn the kill switch since that day.

On a side note, I have just installed a steam unit in my shower. If you need to head down here and warm up, just let me know. I'm betting that you stay cold until June.

when u order dat new hoodie, order 2 of em 3xl, keep one and send me the bill.

or i could send u mine, its got blood on it!!!!!!!!!!!


btw, i think i'm gonna start wering my pfd and kill switch. thankyou.!!

Dayum Randy!!!! Im so glad you're okay bro! Seriously, that's come crazy stuff!!!

On a lighter note....it's only a month or so before the big flat heads start biting in my honey hole!!!

glad to hear your OK and didn't make it to statistic status of people losing their life on the water. There have been countless accidents here in LA last year and it seems it was a worse year. Mainly (3) guys who died at the Houma Oilmans that is a very tragic story and is stuck in my mind forever.

There is no reason only excuses why people don't wear a PFD. Excuses don't save lives though.

yea..but we live and learn..

Randy, bro, that was close. As you said, glad you are still here to tell the story. God's hand of protection was surely on you in that ordeal.

Glad to hear that you're OK and that others are able to learn from you experiences.

There is a saying, "Safety Rules are Written in Blood". This means that most laws and regulations are written because of those that weren't as fortunate.