Three crew members of the Chetzemoka were honored Friday morning for their actions on Christmas Eve that helped save the life of their captain.

On the evening of Dec. 24, Captain Kelly Lippencott was in the wheelhouse waiting for cars and pedestrians to finish loading onto the boat. The dock’s apron was still down when he suddenly collapsed onto the control panel. This caused the ferry to pull away from the dock before the apron was lifted, breaking it in the process. Lippencott had to be taken to shore via rescue boat.

It was the Chetzemoka’s Chief Mate Lee Burris and Able Bodied Seamen John Lohrey and Leonard Delong, who helped with the captain and the ship after Lippencott’s medical emergency. The trio was given Life Ring awards and thanked by Lippencott during a brief ceremony on the Cheztemoka’s passenger dock during a Friday morning ferry crossing from Point Defiance to Tahlequah.

“I just appreciate the help they gave me that difficult night,” Lippencott said.

Outgoing Washington State Ferries Chief Lynne Griffith and Deputy Secretary of Transportation Keith Metcalf handed out the awards and expressed how proud they were of the boat’s entire staff, including those in the engine room and others who couldn’t be at the Friday ceremony.

“There were a lot of others involved … but these three individuals were able to get the captain out of the room, on a backboard and onto a rescue boat to an aid car. Thank you for taking care of our captain,” Griffith said.

Buris and Delong said they were simply doing what they had been trained to do.

“We went into a mode to deal with what we had to do,” Delong said. “It feels great to see him (Lippencott).”

— Anneli Fogt