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Grandfather drowns after rescuing 6-year-old

NEDERLAND, Colorado (AP) -- A man jumped into a reservoir after his 6-year-old grandson, who had fallen in while fishing, and managed to push the boy to safety before slipping underwater and drowning.

The boy and his 8-year-old cousin ran frantically onto a highway Friday and flagged down a driver, who called 911.

"The little guy said 'My grandpa pushed me out of the water,' and then the older one said, 'My grandpa went under,"' said the driver, Joanne Cash.

When rescuers arrived, they found Terry Ringer, 49, face down about 10 feet away from the shore and were able to pull him out of the water without help from divers, Nederland police Sgt. Steve Davis said.

"He wasn't breathing and had no pulse when we pulled him out," said Davis, who estimated Ringer was in the water for 15 minutes. Paramedics performed CPR, but Ringer was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cash said the younger boy told her he fell into the water while fishing off an outcropping of rocks at a picnic area.

An autopsy determined Ringer died of asphyxia due to drowning, the Boulder County Coroner's office said Saturday

The water temperature was probably about 50 degrees, which can cause problems such as breathlessness, panic, cramps and hypothermia, said Dave Booton, emergency services coordinator for Boulder County.

-cnn

Posted by graver at August 18, 2003 04:19 AM