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Boy Scouts honor NWTF Life Member
At every Boy Scout gathering, they recite the oath that guides their daily lives:On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
For NWTF Life Member and Eagle Scout Tyler Breen, from Honeoye Falls, N.Y., this simple oath has guided him from the time he joined the scouts at age 6. But on Nov. 29, 2009, it became a personal mantra, when he saved the lives of his dad, a family friend and a hunting dog from a watery grave on New York’s ConesusLake.
Conservationist from the get-go
Tyler grew up in a house that is dedicated to wildlife conservation and the great outdoors. His family passed on their hunting heritage to Tyler through their involvement with the NWTF and other conservation causes.
“When Tyler was born, one of the first things I did was wire a check to the NWTF and made Tyler a life member,” said Tony Lieb, former New York state chapter president and proud grandfather of Tyler.
Life member becomes a lifesaver
Hunting, especially for waterfowl, became one of Tyler’s passions that consumed his time every fall. It was on one of those waterfowl hunting trips that trouble came looking for Tyler.
“We had launched from shore, were motoring south to one of our hunting spots and ran into the wake of a larger boat,” Tyler said. “The boat was not up on plane yet, so I looked up to see the size of the wake and realized that our small boat was in trouble.”
The wake rolled over the gunwale, swamped the boat, and it capsized in a matter of seconds. Tyler unclipped his waders as the entire hunting party plunged into 35 F water.
Tyler, his dad, Tom, family friend Marty Snyder and hunting dog Abby were OK and clutchingto the boat. His father figured someone would notice and bring help soon, so they clung to the swamped craft hoping help would arrive quickly.
“I knew from my scout training how long we had, and it was not much time,” Tyler said. “In the distance, maybe 200 yards, I could see a house with a large brightly-lit chandelier in the window. I knew I was a strong swimmer. I was a varsity member of the high school swim team and felt I had a good chance to find help.”
Tyler pulled off his waders and hunting jacket, stripped down to his Under Armour base layer and paddled for the house. The cold water soon took its toll as his entire body went numb. The 200 yards turned out to be more than 500 yards.
“It was so cold that it felt like I wasn’t moving forward, but I kept swimming,” Tyler said. “When it seemed like I could not go any more, I looked down and realized I was in shallow water about 25 yards from shore. I stood up, staggered to the breakwall and yelled for help.”
It turned out the owner of the house was Tyler’s orthodontist, who recognized the young man in distress, helped him out of the water and called 911 to alert emergency authorities. When rescuers arrived, Tyler’s father Tom and friend Marty were still conscious, but suffering from severe hypothermia. The two men were rescued along with their hunting dog, Abby.
“The fire department said that they had maybe 10 or 15 minutes left and they would have died.” Tyler said. “All three of us were treated for hypothermia, but my dad had it the worst.”
Honoring heroism
On June 13, in recognition of his bravery, the Boy Scouts of America presented Tylerthe Honor Medal with Crossed Palms, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest honor for heroism.
“It was nice to get the award, but it really was more about saving my dad and friend’s lives,” Tyler said.
Since 1938, there have been only 250 Crossed Palms awards given to heroic scouts and adult leaders.
Tyler will be attending the University of Rochester this fall, where he will continue to do his best as a pre-med student, studying to perhaps be a surgeon or a doctor of internal medicine.