Girls take pride in marsh rescue
Published: July 17, 2006
Apparently, mud is in the eye of the beholder.
For best friends Kimberly Murphy, 12, and Sarah Herguth, 11, who helped pluck a canoer from the Piermont Marsh on Friday, playing in the muck is a great way to cool down after a long day of soccer practice.
“It’s all squishy. It’s just fun,” Kimberly said yesterday.
The girls were drying off after a swim at schoolmate Bianca Waffenschmidt’s home in Blauvelt, recounting the events leading up to Friday evening’s rescue.
Before going for a boat ride with Sarah’s father, Bill Herguth, the two said they were amusing themselves, walking across logs at a marsh near Sarah’s Piermont home and defying the pull of gravity and gunk.
“We wanted to get really muddy, so we got on our knees and walked around in it,” Kimberly said with excitement.
The level-headed Sarah said she was forced to set limits to the post-practice playtime.
“She wanted to roll in it, but I said no,” the freckle-faced girl said.
To this, Bianca’s mother, Pat, said with a laugh, “I hope we don’t go to any horse farms, I’d hate to see what you would be rolling in.”
It was about 7 p.m. Friday when Sarah’s father took the youngsters out for a ride on the river. About 30 minutes into the ride, they heard someone screaming and frantically blowing a whistle.
“We heard this man screaming and we thought he was saying, ‘Hey!’” Kimberly said.
The three paddled toward the sound of a whistle blown by 58-year-old Ralph Verdi, who was standing in a nearly submerged canoe full of water and mud, Bill Herguth said.
“Every time he tried to get out, he’d sink in the mud the boat was surrounded by,” Herguth said. “He’d sink up to his crotch.”
The Kendall Park, N.J., man was boating with a friend, Robert Joyce, 62, of Tappan when their canoe capsized in Piermont Marsh.
Joyce went for help, trudging through the deep, soft mud and collapsed after 250 yards at the edge of a bank. Verdi stayed with the canoe, blowing his whistle as dusk approached.
“He was panicking. He was just like praying to God,” Kimberly said.
“We were right next to him and he was still blowing the whistle,” Sarah said. “He said he grew up in New Jersey and didn’t have a lot of experience.”
The girls tossed Verdi planks of wood for him to walk on and led him to more solid ground. They then helped Bill Herguth flip the canoe, empty it and flip it right side up again.
The three paddled Verdi to safety, with his canoe in tow.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” Bill Herguth said. “They were scared at first. It’s unusual to hear someone screaming that loud in the marsh. It’s usually very peaceful.”
Ultimately, Verdi was calmed and Joyce was rescued by a New York Police Department helicopter about 8 p.m.
As for the girls, they might have discovered an interest greater than their affinity for mud.
“It was fun!” Kimberly said of the rescue.
“It was better than getting to the end of the river and back,” Sarah said. “It was a lot more exciting.”
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