‘We Have to Save Him’: These Airmen Rescued a Kayaker From Icy Alaskan Waters

by Air Force Senior Airman Natalie Doan 

“I can’t feel my legs. 
 
“I can’t feel my legs.” 
 
The man repeated this phrase over and over as Air Force Staff Sgt. Boston Postgate and Senior Airman Daniel Lowe dug their oars into the frigid Alaskan waters, driving toward the shore. Battling the pain and numbness spreading through their arms, they focused solely on rescuing the man clinging to their kayak. 

Hours earlier, Postgate, 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron electrical and environmental systems craftsman, and Lowe, 374th AMXS scheduler, were enjoying their day off at the Air Force Inn at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, where they were temporarily stationed for Exercise Red Flag-Alaska 24-2. 

While resting, they received a group chat message from their friend. 

“Hey, I see there are still two vans available. I was thinking of taking one to go kayaking if anyone wants to join,” the message said. 

Below the message was a link with directions to Eklutna Lake, a glacier-fed body of water tucked in the Chugach Mountains. 

Postgate immediately responded with a thumbs-up emoji. 

“I didn’t want to just lay in bed,” recalled Postgate. “I wanted to go out and see more of Alaska.” 

Lowe, however, hesitated. It would be his first time kayaking, and he didn’t know how to swim. 

“I hate deep water, so I try to stay away from it,” admitted Lowe. A conversation with his dad from the night before made him step out of his comfort zone. 

“I just got off the phone with my dad the night before, and he was like, ‘Yeah man, you better send me some pictures of Alaska,'” said Lowe. “So, when they put in the group chat that morning that they were going kayaking, I was like, ‘I’ll test it out this one time — make an exception.'” 

Lowe replied that he was going to go. 

Air Force Staff Sgt. Boston Postgate, front, and Senior Airman Daniel Lowe.

Postgate, Lowe and their friends set off for Eklutna Lake, and after a 40-minute drive, they arrived at a shop offering rental equipment for outdoor activities. Once they signed their waivers and paid for their kayaks, a staff member delivered a safety briefing, warning them about the lake’s frigid temperature. 

“If you fall in, it’s really, really dangerous,” said Postgate. “Hypothermia will kick in in five minutes. You won’t be able to swim for as long as you think.” 

The staff member explained that Eklutna Lake serves as a public water supply, so rescue boats cannot be deployed in its waters. If anyone fell in, they would have to rely on each other. 

Following the safety briefing, Postgate, Lowe and their friends walked down to the lake, where their kayaks were waiting for them. The two of them decided to share a tandem kayak — Postgate in the front, Lowe in the back — and quickly realized just how cold the water was. 

“There was water already in the seats for all the kayaks,” said Lowe. “It was freezing cold already.” 

Reluctantly, Postgate and Lowe lowered themselves into their seats, then a staff member pushed their kayak into the water. 

Postgate and Lowe paddled for an hour, water dripping down their oars and numbing their hands. Periodically, they stopped to take in the scenery and the expanse of mountains around them, giving their arms a break. 

As the two of them rested, they suddenly heard a commotion. Two of their friends shouted and pointed — a man had fallen into the lake. 

“Immediately, I was like, ‘Oh, we have to go over there,'” said Postgate. “So, we stopped our little rest break and immediately turned our kayak toward him and started rowing.” 

READ MORE in Survival: Trapped Inside Tank, This Soldier Cut Off His Own Leg to Save the Injured Crew

When Postgate and Lowe reached the man, they saw he was clinging to his friend’s kayak, his own kayak and oar floating nearby. His girlfriend downplayed the gravity of the situation, but the two of them knew better: The man was showing signs of hypothermia and couldn’t feel his legs. 

Postgate and Lowe offered to bring the man’s kayak and oar back to shore. As they made their way to land, they heard people calling them back for help. The two of them looked over and saw that the man had accidentally tipped his friend into the water. Now there were two men in the lake. 

“We didn’t care about the kayak at that point,” said Lowe. “All that mattered was getting them out of the water.” 

Ditching the kayak, Postgate and Lowe rowed back to rescue the second man who fell into the water while two other kayakers rescued the first. The two of them helped the man get ahold of their kayak then paddled roughly 20 minutes to shore, digging their oars deep into the water as Postgate called out cadence for them to stay in sync.

Their adrenaline surging, they fought through the pain in their hands and arms, spurred on by the man’s constant refrain: “I can’t feel my legs.” 

Even though they were growing tired by the minute, the two of them remained determined. 

“One of the things that kept going through my mind was, ‘If I was in his spot, would I want the people saving me to show any kind of weakness?’ I’m like, hell no, not [going to] happen,” said Postgate. “So, I just kept thinking that.” 

For Lowe, the severity of the situation weighed on him even more as he thought about one of his greatest fears. 

“Deep water is one of my biggest fears, so I know I would be panicking. I would probably be just as frightened as he was, if not more,” said Lowe. “So, thinking that, I knew that his life really depended on us. If we got tired and he didn’t make it, it would have been on us.” 

When they finally reached land, Postgate and Lowe dropped their oars and helped the man ashore. Postgate could barely bend his fingers, his hands frozen stiff from gripping the oar for so long. 

The man lay shriveled up on the ground, paralyzed by the cold. Postgate and Lowe helped him to his feet, and remembering the instructions from their safety briefing, they had him do small exercises to warm his body. 

Once the man could stand on his own, Postgate and Lowe guided him to a fire that one of the equipment rental shop employees had started. An employee stopped them as they returned their kayaks, telling Postgate and Lowe that if they hadn’t been there, the man would have died. 

“We couldn’t just keep kayaking and pass by, knowing someone was in danger,” said Lowe. “I feel like any decent human being would have tried to help.” 

Airmen from the 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

Following their trip to Alaska, Postgate reunited with his family to celebrate the 90th birthday of his grandfather, a decorated Vietnam veteran who hailed his grandson as a hero for his actions in Alaska. Meanwhile, Lowe kept his promise to his dad. Not only did he send him pictures of Alaska, but he also recounted the events of a life-saving rescue. 

For their heroic efforts, Postgate and Lowe were recognized by their leadership and awarded Air & Space Force Commendation Medals. But to them, it was just about being in the right place at the right time. 

“If we hadn’t decided to go on that kayaking trip, things might have ended differently,” Postgate concluded. “It was like the stars aligned.”