The Hero Of Lake Erie

They called him The Human Kite, a daredevil who became the first person to cross Lake Erie from Pele Point, Canada to Cedar Point in Ohio, a distance of thirty-two miles, on a kite. 32-year-old Alfonso Woodall, a television repairman from Cleveland, performed the amazing 1958 stunt in just over two hours aboard a homemade 10×13 foot kite with an aluminum frame. The kite was towed by a speed boat at a height of 150 feet. Although the kite included a seat, Woodall, the father of five, held on to the crossbar for most of the trip. Twice during the passage, crosswinds forced him to hit the water briefly before rising into the air again.

One might think that would be enough adventure for one person, but they obviously didn’t know Alfonso Woodall. He was well known around the Cleveland waterfront for his swimming and kite flying performances. He was also a surfer and scuba diver. But perhaps Woodall is best known as The Hero Of Lake Erie.

Born in 1923, Woodall joined the Army Air Corps in 1943 and was trained as a fighter aircraft mechanic. His military service over, he returned to Cleveland and to the lake he loved so much. He found work as a radio and television repairman while he built his reputation for impressive feats of courage He went on to attempt flyovers over the English Channel and the United Nations building. As word of his aerial achievements spread, he was employed to do stunt work for television and movie projects.

It was on one such film assignment, in March of 1959, that Woodall was supposed to be towed behind a car instead of a boat, with roller skate wheels on his homemade skis. Something went wrong and he crashed, breaking both feet and his hip, and spent weeks in a California hospital. But as they say, you can’t keep a good man down.

Just seven months later, on October 20th, 1959, Woodall was still walking on crutches and recovering from his injuries on the blustery evening when he heard someone calling for help from the lake. While duck hunting, 32-year-old Louis Fabri’s small boat overturned in the lake, dumping Fabri and his hunting buddy overboard. Throwing his crutches aside, Woodall pulled on a life vest, attached a rope to his body, and dove into the wind whipped water. He swam out to the boat and tied the rope to Fabri and held his head above the water, while people on shore pulled them to safety. Unfortunately, Fabri’s friend drowned before help could reach him. Both men were taken to the hospital, Fabri treated for hypothermia and Woodall for further injuries to his legs.

Celebrated for his selfless act of courage, Woodall was awarded the Carnegie Metal, which is reserved for people in the United States and Canada who risk death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

As they also say, no good deed goes unpunished. The Carnegie award came with a $500 cash bonus. Unfortunately, the windfall made Woodall ineligible for assisted housing, and he and his wife and five children were evicted and had to live with family members until he could get back on his feet both physically and financially.

Woodall became a strong advocate for water safety, urging swimming lessons for young people, and participated in several recovery efforts for people who had drowned.

Ironically, Alfonso Woodall would become a victim of the very waters he loved so much. While swimming in 1987, he became caught between two rocks below the surface of Lake Erie and could not free himself. He drowned in the same waters where he had fought so hard to save the lives of others. He was cremated, and the Coast Guard scattered his ashes at sea. That seems like a fitting resting place for the Hero Of Lake Erie.

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And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Heroes are ordinary people who know that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else’s.