Albany man rescued from Lake George by priests on a floating tiki bar
LAKE GEORGE - It was a choppy afternoon on the lake and Jimmy MacDonald from Albany was paddling in a kayak.
As MacDonald tells it, he drifted away from his wife and step kids because he was taking pictures with his new smartphone "and not really paying attention."
As he tried to make his way back, the water got choppier, and he paddled harder before he tipped over and lost his paddle.
He was in about 30 feet of water, his ill-fitting life jacket coming up over his head, and he was holding onto the kayak with one hand and his new $1,400 smartphone with the other.
He says people -- other kayakers and canoeists -- were passing by in the distance, but the former amateur boxer's pride wouldn't let him scream for help. So for several exhausting minutes he kept trying to right the kayak.
"That's when I said, 'Alright, I think I might die today. I think this might be it.' I prayed to my lord and savior Jesus Christ for help," MacDonald said.
Greg Barrett is a captain for Tiki Tours.
"A lot of things aligned that day," Barrett said.
He typically pilots partiers, but not on this day.