Skroski, who once was a police officer in Longmeadow and Westhampton, is credited with wading into frigid waters to rescue the two women.
Phippsburg, Me., Police Chief John Skroski, who is a native of Southampton, Mass., was credited with a daring rescue off the coast of Maine recently. Phippsburg, Me., Police Chief John B. Skroski, who used to live in Western Massachusetts, recently waded through icy ocean currents to perform a daring rescue of two women from a small island off the coast of his community.
The heroics of Skroski, who has numerous local connections, were detailed in a March 18 story by Seth Koenig in The Times Record, a newspaper that covers the communities of mid-coast Maine. Skroski, 39, grew up in Southampton and was a patrolman in Westhampton from 1991 to 1993 and in Longmeadow from 1993 to 1996. His father, John J. Skroski, who is retired, used to be police chief in Southampton.
“As a police officer it was the most intense experience I have ever had in my career and the most personally rewarding experience,” the Maine police chief said Tuesday.
On March 11, Skroski braved thick fog and rapid currents in 39 degree water to wade to Fox Island off Popham Beach, an area where there have been several drownings, according to the story. The women, 50-year-old pediatrician Elizabeth Leduc and her daughter, Sarah, 18, were visiting Maine colleges from their home in Georgia. Phippsburg, population about 2,100, is a tourist town whose population swells to 6,000 to 8,000 in the summer.
The two women had crossed a sand bar to the island during low tide around 11 a.m. and became stranded when the tide rolled back in, bringing strong currents with it.
Skroski was alerted to the situation when the women made a 911 call to state police, who referred them to his department as well as the Maine Marine Patrol and the Phippsburg Department of Fire and Rescue. Wearing a survival suit and accompanied by Maine Marine Patrol Officer Chris Hilton, also in a survival suit, Skroski overcame heavy fog for an hour and 10 minutes before reaching the women.
Hilton had to go back to shore after his suit sprung a leak and began taking in frigid water. A martial arts instructor who runs and lifts weights, Skroski almost collapsed from exhaustion when he reached the women.
Original plans called for the two women to cross back to the beach when the tide would have turned about 8 p.m. However, that changed about 4 p.m. when Leduc began to suffer from exposure and feared she would soon go into hypothermic shock, a potentially fatal condition.
About then, the fog lifted and other rescuers, also in survival suits, were able to pull a flat-bottomed boat to the island, using a cord tethered to the beach to reach it. The women were then put into the boat and pulled back to the beach as the vessel overcame high waves and strong currents.
Skroski praised the efforts of fellow rescue workers Deputy Fire Chief Andy Hart, Game Warden Doug Kulis, Maine Marine Officer Clint Thompson and Firefighter Billy Totman, as well as others.