Saved in the nick of time: Father rescued after kayak capsizes

Ísak Leon Júlíusson saved the life of his father, Júlíus M. Jónsson, last night with the help of kind people living near Elliðavatn lake. The father and son were kayaking on the lake when Júlíus fell into the water. Ísak was some distance away but heard his father calling for help as he tried to stay on the kayak.

It was reported last night that the fire department in the capital area had responded in force to Elliðavatn after a man in a kayak fell into the water.

A news report on mbl.is stated that the man had managed to get out of the water on his own. Júlíus wanted to correct this, explaining that his son and others nearby — who luckily had a boat — had saved his life that evening.

According to Ísak, the doctor said that if his father had been in the water for just ten more minutes, he could have died.

“Clothes add weight, and you tire quickly in the water”

“We were kayaking on Elliðavatn and both of us were fishing. There was some distance between us, and Dad had decided to go ashore. It had been unusually difficult to paddle — maybe the boat was too small or leaking — there was definitely something wrong with it,” Ísak told mbl.is.

“I was quite far away but heard him shouting. I thought he had caught a fish, so I put my fishing rod down and started paddling toward him. Then I saw he was in the water, trying to climb back onto the kayak, but it kept flipping, and he kept falling back in.”

“At first I thought it was funny and thought, ‘Dad, are you joking? Did you flip the kayak? What are you doing?’”

“I didn’t realize he’d already been in the water for some time. Then I saw that he was exhausted. He’d been trying to stay afloat, but in all those clothes, you get really heavy in the water and tire quickly.”

“I wouldn’t have made it to shore with both of us”

Ísak rushed to his father, who managed to hold onto his son's leg with one hand and the kayak with the other.

“I started screaming for help as loud as I could. By chance, I had my phone between my legs and immediately called emergency services while paddling toward shore with Dad. I had to lean in the opposite direction to avoid falling in myself. We had paddled quite far out,” he said.

“Dad was so tired that I had to get to shore quickly — if he’d let go, he would’ve drowned. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to go after him, I was so tired myself.”

By coincidence, the father and son were in direct line of sight of a couple’s house — and that couple owned a boat. Their son was playing PlayStation and heard Ísak’s cries for help.

“Luckily, he had the volume turned down. The family ran outside, had a boat, and came toward me — just as I was no longer able to paddle the kayak, which had become very heavy. These people completely saved us — they are absolute angels. I wouldn’t have made it to shore with both of us — we were in the deepest part.”

Nine minutes felt like an hour

Just as the boat reached them, Ísak heard sirens approaching. Before he knew it, police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck had arrived.

“A whole group of people came running to the shore. They were about to jump in but saw that the family's boat had reached us,” Ísak said.

“I got onto land, and the woman who lives there hugged me immediately — her husband and son had brought the boat to us,” said Ísak, who had stayed on the phone with emergency services the entire time.

“The call lasted nine minutes. It took them nine minutes to get from Grafarvogur to Elliðavatn to find us, but it felt like an hour.”

Wearing a life jacket is standard in kayaking

Ísak emphasized that wearing a life jacket when kayaking is standard and urged everyone to follow that rule.

“It was stupid not to be wearing a life jacket. We had just been out with my little sister and her friend and family — all the kids had life jackets on.

My dad and I are both strong swimmers, and you think you can just swim, but you get a shock, you get heavy in your clothes, and cold too. Dad’s body temperature was down to 35°C (95°F) when we got to the hospital,” he said.

He says this experience should serve as an important lesson for anyone thinking of getting into a kayak.

“Adults and children must wear life jackets — even if the water seems shallow, it isn’t shallow everywhere. You go into shock. We were lucky that it had been warm recently and the water was warmer than usual, which meant he didn’t get as cold as he could have.

The doctor said: ‘Just ten more minutes in the water and he would have died.’ If he had lost his grip on the kayak, he would’ve sunk — and I don’t know if I could have helped him. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done. It was just so terrifying,” Ísak Leon concludes.