FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — The Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office identified the two men involved in a UTV crash on the ice of Lake Winnebago. NBC 26 spoke with the survivor, and learned more about the man who died.
- Clay Creighton's family and friends remember him as a quick-witted and hard-working father, grandfather, and avid boater
- Creighton's friend Michael Huffman says he is shaken by the tragedy
- The local fishing club, Foot of the Lake Fishing Club, says the crack the two men went into stretches from near Lakeside Park to near Sunset Supper Club, a quarter mile offshore, and that people should give it a 100-yard berth to avoid thin ice around the crack
- Video shows the approximate location of the crash, and yacht club members sharing memories
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details added for web)
We have an update on a deadly accident on Lake Winnebago over the weekend that saw two men plunge into the icy water. We're at the Fond du Lac Yacht Club, just about a quarter mile from where Mike Huffman and Clay Creighton were riding in a UTV out on the lake. But their Saturday afternoon turned into a tragedy when the vehicle went into a crack in the ice.
The 57-year-old Huffman was driving the UTV when it went into the large crack just after noon. He said there were no trees or markers in the vicinity to mark the crack.
He told NBC 26: "This is just nothing more than a freak accident. It just came up too fast, and that was just it. We were both out of the machine and in the water, and nobody came by. There was nobody that came by for a long time."
For more than 20 minutes, Huffman was trying to flag people down.
When bystanders arrived, Mike says they pulled Clay Creighton out of the water first, and tried to do chest compressions.
Once Mike's strength was starting to run out, the bystanders pulled him out.
"I wasn't able to get myself out, but thanks to them, because they saved my life," he said.
First responders came too late, held up by the size of the crack in the ice, and Clay was later pronounced dead in the hospital.
Mike was discharged from the hospital Monday night, after being treated for hypothermia for two days, and told NBC 26: "My head's still swimming from the accident [...] It's just a horrible tragedy."
His good friend Clay was a member at nearby Fond du Lac Yacht Club for nearly three decades, joining in 1996.
The members there say they'll remember his warm sense of humor ("He always had a great dry quip," one said) and hard work.
"Clay was very handy," said Cheryl O'Grady-Ritchie, the club's commodore. "He could fabricate anything. You'd say, 'Gee, I would love to have new lights out in front of the yacht club.' Well, a month later, we had beautiful lights hanging outside, that were industrial strength. And he would just say, 'Okay,' and they would appear, and they would be beautiful. "
"He always came in and had a good mood, "Christine Cohen said. "And if you needed help with anything, Clay always was there to help you. "
O'Grady-Ritchie also remembered the thought and energy Creighton and his friends put into club events, like the Rock the Docks summer party and accompanying shrimp boil.
"They were actually able to book [the band] Sonic Circus for our small, little yacht club," O'Grady-Ritchie said, "and we had an incredible event that everyone still talks about today."
Clay's wife, Donna Crieghton, told NBC 26 on Monday that Clay was:
"A great dad, wonderful grandpa," she said. "[The] kids miss him deeply. [He] has a great, caring family. [He] enjoyed all his friends and really enjoyed life."
Donna added: "He's deeply missed. It was just a horrible accident."
The yacht club says a visitation for Clay will be here in Fond du Lac on Saturday, as friends and family celebrate his life.
