Lake Ontario paddle boat rescue awarded

Way to go Ed!

RADM W

OSWEGO, N.Y. -- The U.S. Coast Guard honored a Henderson Harbor man for saving three people from drowning in Lake Ontario.

Ed Fillingham, 77, was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal Tuesday. In April 2009, Fillingham rescued a woman and two men from 40 degree water after their boat capsized and they weren't wearing life jackets. He paddled 500 yards offshore to save the boaters.

Fillingham told us their safety was the first thing on his mind that day.

"You can't leave kids out there like that. Once you commit yourself, you go after them. You got to try anyway. No way I could have left them out there. No way," Fillingham said.

The U.S. Coast Guard awards the Silver Lifesaving Medal to people who endanger their own lives while saving or attempting to save another from drowning, a shipwreck or other perils of the water.