Hours after rescuing a child who had fallen into an irrigation canal with his son, a Gunnison County man learned that his own 4-year-old boy had died.
Ryder Oeflein was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. today at Gunnison Valley Hospital after medical workers tried to revive him for nearly four hours, said Undersheriff Rick Besecker of the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Department.
Ryder’s father, Peter Oeflein, found the other boy, also 4, about 200 yards down the canal, Besecker said. A sheriff’s deputy discovered Ryder in the canal about 45 minutes later.
The undersheriff did not know the name or the condition of the other boy, who was flown by helicopter to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.
Three neighborhood friends were playing together Wednesday at about 7 p.m. when two of them fell into the canal, which is about 3 feet deep and 8 feet wide, Besecker said. The water was running fast but no more than usual, Besecker said.
An 8-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, ran to his house after his younger friends fell into the water and told his parents about the accident.
When he learned about the accident, Peter Oeflein ran into the middle of the canal and rushed downstream. He found his neighbor’s boy about 15 minutes later, Besecker said. He carried the boy to the side of the canal and performed CPR on him.
The canal runs through the subdivision where the boys were next door neighbors about 8 miles north of Gunnison. There is no fence around the canal, he said.
“The accessibility is the dangerous part of the irrigation ditch,” Besecker said. “Four year olds are very mobile. There is a big mysterious world out there. By their nature they go to discover it.”
The canal is owned by area ranchers who water hay fields with water that comes from the Gunnison River, he said.
The community of Gunnison was already grieving the deaths in Hawaii of Gunnison resident Jennifer “Jen” White, 32, and her 9-year-old son, Tyler. Tyler was carried out to sea near Anahola Beach Park on Saturday. Two days later, Jennifer White, who had rescued her 8-year-old son, Aaron, and tried to save Tyler, also died.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
