Clarkston teen recalls successful rescue effort this summer on Deer Lake

By Emily Caswell
Brand Manager
CLARKSTON — Summer 2024 may feel like a distant memory to some, but for two area families, summer 2024 is still very much on their minds and will be for a lifetime.
That’s because at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 12 Clarkston teenager Sam Yerian’s fast thinking and heroic acts likely saved a grandfather and two of his grandsons on Deer Lake.
“At 3 p.m. my daughter Claudia, was sitting on our dock and heard a commotion on Deer Lake. Realizing some people were struggling in the water and she was not equipped to help, she called Sam (my son, her brother) who was in the house,” said Sam’s mom Jennifer Yerian.
“Even though I could hear a woman yelling, I wasn’t really aware of the situation, honestly I thought probably someone needed to be towed, which happens a lot on the lake,” said Sam, 16, a junior at Clarkston High School. “It wasn’t until I got to the end of our dock and saw people in the water about 150 yards away that I realized it was an emergency.”
The emergency Sam was witnessing had started as anything but. Gary Schneider, his daughter Ashlee and her three sons were on the lake that day to enjoy a day of fun on Gary’s boat in celebration of his 70th birthday.
Ashlee said her sons, ages 4, 8 and 10 were jumping off of the boat, swimming around when suddenly the 4-year-old, realizing how deep the water was, began to panic. Although the 4 and 8-year-olds had on lifejackets, Gary could sense they all needed help and jumped in fully-clothed. The 4-year-old continued to panic, pushing Gary under the water, on what was becoming an increasingly windy day. Sensing that more help was needed, Ashlee jumped into the water, grabbed her 4-year-old, began to swim back to the boat and was able to get herself and her 4-year-old safely back on board. The boat, however, because it was not anchored, was drifting further and further away from the others.
“We were so far apart,” said Ashlee. “I couldn’t even see my dad or my 10-year-old.”
Once she was finally back at the boat, Ashlee tried to drive it to where her other sons and father were, but the prop was up. With limited knowledge of how to operate the boat, Ashlee herself began to panic, yelling for help and honking the horn. She grabbed a lifejacket to give to her 10-year-old, jumped back into the water and began to swim. It was then she encountered Sam.
Sam hadn’t hesitated at the call for help, jumping into action grabbing his life jacket and riding out onto the lake on his personal watercraft. He thought he was on his way to rescue two young swimmers who found themselves in trouble.
“I recall being scared because our jet ski was low on fuel and the fuel alarm was going off. I was afraid it would stall out before I could get to the kids in the water,” said Sam.
Luckily fuel was not an issue. Sam found Ashlee, who was then on her way back to her family’s boat. She told him to help her children. Sam was able to grab the children, but the rescue was only half done. Before they drove away, the young swimmers told Sam he had to save their grandpa Gary.
“Sam had not noticed Gary because by this time Gary was exhausted from trying to save the kids, couldn’t speak and was just floating in the lake,” said Jennifer.
Sam took off his life jacket and threw it to Gray telling him to hold onto it and he would be back after the kids were safe on land. Gary still could not speak and Sam wasn’t sure he was conscious at this time.
After dropping the kids on land, Sam returned to where Gary was floating and lifted the front of his body onto the personal watercraft.
“Getting the kids to shore was easy because they were so light, but  trying to pull Gary onto the back of the water craft was more difficult, and it immediately tipped,” said Sam. “Once I moved to the opposite side I was able to pull Gary up, on his stomach and flopped him over the back of the water craft.”
“I have no idea how he did it because my son is about 130 pounds and Gary was a soaking wet fully clothed man and dead weight,” said Jennifer.
As Sam brought Gary through the water to shore, Sam’s dad, who had just arrived, called Sam’s friend, Nico Tersigni to assist Sam.
“By the time I got him to shore my friend Nico had arrived to help. Seeing Gary, Nico asked me if he was alive because Gary was slumped over the seat and not moving,” said Sam. “Nico and I were each able to pick up Gary under each of his arms and carry him to shore.”
As the boys carried Gary to shore, still unresponsive, EMS arrived eventually transporting Gary to the hospital.
By this time more neighbors had jumped into action to get Ashlee, her 4-year-old and her family’s boat to shore near where her other sons and dad were.
“I was in shock,” said Ashlee. “It went bad so fast. It went from no big deal to terrifying.”
Gary was transported to the hospital where he stayed for four days to recover from the trauma. Today he has made a full recovery.
While they started as strangers, the Yerian and Schneider families connected and were able to share their perspectives from the day.
“Gary sent me a text that said ‘I remember just barely floating in the water and I heard your son’s voice. I opened my eyes and he was taking off his life jacket to throw to me. I thank God for them being there,’” said Jennifer, who added she’s not surprised by her son’s acts that fateful day.
“Sam is incredibly empathetic, especially for a teenager, so his willingness to help did not surprise me,” she said. “The confidence and quick thinking to do so without adult supervision is what I am really proud of though. It’s not always easy to think for yourself as a kid.”
Sam said Boater Safety is his only “formal” training. Otherwise he was acting on instinct.
“I never thought twice about trying to help them,” he said. “I was there, I had the necessities and the resources, there was no other thought but to help them.”
Sam said he walked away with a few valuable lessons that day, number one being that, “Anything can happen at any time, especially around the water. I learned to be confident in myself and my ability to take control of situation.”
Ashlee said she and her family talk often about the day and remain so thankful to Sam and everyone else who helped them in their time of need.
“I just didn’t see a good end in sight. It was scary,” said Ashlee. “Thank you for coming out there … Thank God they did.”