Owatonna, MN – OWATONNA For Owatonna High School graduates and friends Matt Garbers and Isaiah Fails, ice fishing has become a winter hobby.
But last weekend was almost their last on the ice.
At the hospital, they said it was darn close, said Melissa, Garbers’ mother. There wouldn’t have been much time left.
Garbers and Fails left on Friday for ice fishing on Roberds Lake in Faribault with six other men.
We knew they would spend the weekend there and they’d be home sometime Saturday because one of the boys had to go to work on Saturday afternoon, said Jim, Garbers’ father.
But that afternoon, Fails, who works at Kasper Dairy, did not get up for work.
He usually leaves by 11 for work, said Josh Sollers-Reyes, an OHS graduate on the fishing trip with Garbers and Fails. We knew something wasn’t right.
The eight men were split among four ice houses with two in each house. Garbers and Fails were in one.
They got suspicious because Isaiah had to go to work at 3 p.m. and his truck was still there, Jim said.
After knocking on the ice house door several times, the men broke down the locked door.
We had to open the door with a pry bar, Sollers-Reyes said.
And when the men got inside, they found Garbers and Fails barely conscious and covered in vomit.
We got a call Saturday afternoon from Josh. I think it was a little bit before 4 p.m. that something was wrong with Matt. He said Matt was unresponsive, Melissa said. Of course, we were like, ‘Bring him home.’ Carbon monoxide poisoning did not cross our minds.
That was until Sollers-Reyes’ stepdad called.
He said they’re taking them to District One Hospital right away, Melissa said. When we arrived, they were hooking the boys up to a whole bunch of machines and trying to ask them questions before the decision was to fly them to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis for the hyperbaric chamber.
Garbers was transported first by helicopter, and then, Fails.
I remember part of the helicopter ride because I wanted to look outside and I leaned over and saw all the buildings and stuff with the lights on them and thought that was pretty cool, Garbers said.
After that I don’t remember anything going into the chamber. That whole first night was black.
Melissa said Garbers and Fails went into the hyperbaric oxygen chamber three times at Hennepin County Medical Center.
The first time eliminates all carbon monoxide, Melissa said. The next two times were treatment for vitals brain, heart and kidneys.
According to Mayo Clinic, hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room or tube.
In a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, the air pressure is increased to three times higher than normal air pressure. Under these conditions, your lungs can gather more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure, the Mayo Clinic website states.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to treat serious infections, bubbles of air in people’s blood vessels and wounds that won’t heal from diabetes as well as carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and non-irritating gas that is the product of incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials such as gasoline, charcoal and wood, according to the Minnesota Poison Control System.
An estimated 3,500 to 4,000 deaths occur each year as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, making it the leading cause of death due to poisoning in the U.S.
As carbon monoxide builds up and displaces the oxygen from the body, said Dan Tranter, supervisor of indoor air unit at the Minnesota Department of Health. It starves the brain and heart of oxygen. Sometimes that can have tragic consequences.
The department of health says people with heart and lung disease are at a higher risk of developing problems from carbon monoxide as well as children and the elderly.
[Carbon monoxide poisonings] happen more during the heating season, late fall to early spring as furnaces and space heaters are going in homes, ice houses and buildings, Tranter said.
In 2014, the Minnesota Poison Control System received 514 calls regarding carbon monoxide poisoning with the highest number of calls coming in January with 70 and February with 115.
From 2012 to 2014, the state has received more than 1,100 calls about carbon monoxide poisoning.
It does happen, Tranter said. It’s important heating equipment is installed and vented properly.
Jim said it was estimated that Garbers and Fails had been exposed to carbon monoxide for more than 12 hours.
I didn’t fall asleep until maybe 2 a.m. [on Saturday], Garbers said. I just put two lines down and opened the rails and laid back and I was out.
Jim said this wasn’t the men’s first time ice fishing on Roberds Lake.
This house has been out there quite a bit, he said. They were out there last weekend doing it. They figure the winds from Friday night, they were just in the right spot and blew the carbon monoxide right back in the house faster than it was going out the vent.
Jim and Melissa said they’ve heard of carbon monoxide poisoning before.
You never think about it happening to you though, Jim said.
Garbers was discharged from the hospital on Monday night, and Fails was expected to be home on Tuesday night.
Because Isaiah had some numbness in his left side, he had to stay longer, Jim said.
Because of this, the Garbers encourage everyone to take precautions to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Tranter said it’s important for individuals to make sure all their fuel-burning appliances and heating devices are properly vented and maintained, and that carbon monoxide alarms are installed.
As of 2008, Minnesota requires by law that single-family homes have at least one operational carbon monoxide alarm within 10 feet of every bedroom, and as of 2009, multi-family homes are required to meet the same law.
Tranter said people should also know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Minnesota Department of Health says for most people, the first signs of exposure to low concentrations of carbon monoxide include mild headache and breathlessness with moderate exercise, and continued exposure can lead to flu-like symptoms including more severe headaches, dizziness, tiredness, and nausea that may progress to confusion, irritability, and impaired judgment, memory and coordination.
Garbers said he doesn’t plan on going ice fishing this week, but he’ll be back on the ice for sure.
Fails’ parents, Jill and Pat, said through a text message, We want to thank the community, friends and family for the incredible support through all of this.
That’s for us, too, Melissa said.
And Melissa and Jim extended a special thank you to the boys on the trip who rescued their son and Fails.
Thank goodness for them boys. I can only imagine what the boys had to go through and see, Melissa said.