Hunter drowns at public hunting grounds?
GREENE COUNTY, Ohio -- A West Chester man saved his 4-year-old son before he drowned in a flooded field, a family member told News 5.
Lisa Morgan calls Jeffrey Durham "our hero" for his fast thinking and final act of love after he fell through ice at Caesar’s Creek Wildlife Area Friday afternoon.
Durham's son went into the icy water to help his dad, Morgan said.
Durham, 43, lifted his son out of the water and told him to go back to their truck.
The boy walked nearly a mile through snow and dense woods to the truck. People found him there and called 911.
The boy led them back to the spot where his father died.
"It appears Jeff for whatever reason got stuck," Morgan said. "It's very likely he knew his own situation was not good, but he was focused and determined to save his child.
"Imagine what Jeff had to be experiencing physically in those extreme conditions. Yet, he was able to convince his young, scared, cold and shy child to leave his daddy, to walk all alone through snow and cold to the truck."
The boy was not hurt, Morgan said.
"It was a huge blessing that after being wet and cold and walking almost a mile he didn't have a bit of frostbite on him," she said.
The father and son were not hunting, as the media had reported, Morgan said.
"They were in the field that day doing what the two of them so loved to do together, daddy and son, in the outdoors," Morgan said.
She wanted to dispel any idea that Durham had carelessly put himself and his son in danger.
"He was an avid hunter and he knew the area. He was not being careless. The area is deceiving," she said.
Greene County police said the area is commonly used by hunters but floods a lot.
Morgan, a cousin of Durham's wife, expressed appreciation to people at the wildlife area who stopped to help.
"You think about a boy watching his father drown and it breaks your heart," said Matt Hougan, a hunter who was in the area.
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I would sue the crap out of ceasar creek, i take my son out there for pheasants, how can a feild be so flooded that it would kill someone!!![:@] That area should have beeen posted!![:@] This hits way too close to home for me guys.