Three fishermen were rescued after their boat capsized in Lake Erie on Tuesday, with one treading water for several hours until help arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s honestly a miracle,\u201d Kelleys Island police Chief James Bartus told WJW<\/a>. \u201cThe family came up today and they\u2019re just blessed and happy that this all turned out the way it did.\u201d<\/p>\n The men were fishing when a storm hit the lake. Their 17-foot boat capsized at about 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the television station.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had right around 5-, 6-, 7-foot waves,\u201d Bartus said.<\/p>\n Two men, ages 81 and 78, hung onto the boat, but a 65-year-old man floated away, WJW<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n According to a news release<\/a>, the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Coast Guard said that Station Marblehead rescued the older men, while Coast Guard Air Station Detroit assisted in the rescue of a third person near Kelleys Island.<\/p>\n According to the Coast Guard, a 45-foot boat fished the two men out of the water at about 7 p.m. ET. The men were transferred to medical personnel awaiting them on Kelleys Island.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when they told us that there was a third victim,\u201d Bartus told WJW<\/a>. \u201cHe had floated away last and they\u2019d seen he had been floating away from the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartus said the third man had been treading water for nearly 4 1\/2 hours before he was rescued, the Sandusky Register<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Bartus said the man had a seat cushion wrapped around his wrist \u201cin a figure eight\u201d so that he would be noticed by potential rescue crews.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that way if he did not make it, we would see the seat cushion,\u201d Bartus told the television station. \u201cHe would wait for a wave to hit and he would yell for help and then the next wave he would spit out the water he\u2019d taken in.\u201d<\/p>\n Supported by an air crew, a Station Marblehead tow boat rescued the third man and transferred him to medical personnel at Station Marblehead, the Coast Guard said<\/a>.<\/p>\n