BARRY COUNTY, Mich. — Authorities say a woman has died after she tried to help her husband after a boating crash on Gun Lake over the weekend.
The Barry County Sheriff’s Office says Melanie Cybulski saw her husband in distress after the collision Saturday and attempted to assist.
The sheriff’s office says the crash was reported at about 4:08 p.m. Saturday when a 16-foot boat operated by Cybulski’s husband Eric collided with a Sea-Doo personal watercraft. Jacob Baker, who was operating the Sea-Doo, was thrown from his craft and knocked unconscious.
Eric Cybulski jumped into the water after Baker and kept his face out of the water, officials said.
Though Baker was wearing a life jacket, officials say Eric was not and became exhausted. Melanie Cybulski saw that he was distressed, but she was unable to get their boat closer to help, according to a release.
Witnesses told police she got into the water and reported that they saw her swimming. She was later seen floating on her back and they initially thought she was resting.
When a family from Middleville also on the lake checked on her, they found she was not breathing and attempted to perform CPR on their boat.
Officials say she was taken to the hospital and died on Sunday.
The two men were pulled out of the water by other people helping at the scene. They were both hospitalized.
