Boy swims 1/2 mile to rescue family

BENZIE COUNT, Michigan -- Quick thinking by a 14-year-old Benzie County boy may have saved the lives of his family after their boat capsized on Crystal Lake Sunday.

Logan Snyder said when the boat overturned and his family went in the water, he made sure they were okay and went into action.

“I reached under [the boat] and got more life jackets and I swam to shore after that,” said Logan.

That's when Logan's journey to shore began.

“I was swimming backwards and I took a 30-40 second break and I kept on swimming and stopped about four times. Then I got to shore, finally, and I looked around and I found a person and I was like ‘I need help big time. My family is out there,’” said Logan.

After drifting down the lake and swimming for more than half a mile, Logan found Bill and Laurie Harris.

“They needed help. We're the only ones along here that were actually home,” said Laurie Harris who helped rescue the stranded boaters.

Bill took his boat out to rescue Logan's family, nine month old Aubriana and her 28 year-old mother Krista and 29 year-old father Jeff.

“My husband said he took on water with our boat coming in, so it was pretty rough,” said Laurie.

When the family got to shore they were greeted with towels after spending nearly one hour in the water.

“When they came in the mother was definitely crying. I think they were kind of in shock not realizing, believing what had happened. The baby was crying but as soon as they checked her out… she was fine and then she was happy as can be and the mom was just very relieved,” said Laurie.

“I started crying,” said Krista Witherell, rescued boater and mother of nine month Aubriana. “My baby is going to be okay. Logan is okay. We're all okay.”

As the weather warms up and people take to the water, authorities say it's important to always remember to wear a life jacket. If something goes wrong you can buy time for emergency responders to rescue you.