Man Fighting For Life After Swimming Accident In Lake Chelan
The family of 20-year-old Michael-Ryan Pattison is keeping vigil at Harborview Medical Center. They are looking for hope in a situation that is grim, and they have a message they hope will save other families the pain they are suffering.
Hugs and tears, prayers, and hanging onto each other for strength is all the Pattison family can do right now for him. The former high-school quarterback now lies paralyzed at Harborview after an accident at Lake Chelan.
"This is a nightmare," says Brooke Nyman, Pattison's girlfriend. "It's still a nightmare."
Pattison, Nyman, his cousin and several friends were at Lake Chelan planning to enjoy the start of summer. Matthew Pattison, his cousin, was getting ready to go swimming but the 20-year-old beat him to it.
"He said, 'I'll meet you in the water' and that's the last words he said to me," says Matt Pattison.
Michael-Ryen Pattison and another friend dove into shallow water. Michael hit his head.
He floated face down in the water unable to move until friends turned him over and brought him to shore. He was airlifted to Harborview, and his family says doctors don't have any good news to report.
"He's just hanging on right now," says Pattison's father, also Michael Pattison, "and he knows he's in trouble and he's extremely afraid."
Pattison was a quarterback at Woodinville High School, and his family tells me he stayed active in sports at Washington State University. They say Pattison was always very responsible and a good swimmer, and they fear that low water levels in Lake Chelan may have contributed to this accident.
They believe signs warning of the rocks and shallow water would have made a difference.
"Sometimes they just need an extra sign to slow them down," says his father, "and it wasn't there for them."
Because of the Memorial Day holiday, we couldn't get in touch with the city of Chelan to ask about warning signs or low water levels. But the Pattisons hope that, at the least, their experience will be a warning to others to be careful in the water.