Michael Soria, 21, and his cousin, David Soria, 19, were on the lake when their fiberglass rowboat oveturned, according to 25-year-old Roland Anglin, owner of The Wash, who was spending time with family at the lake.

“We actually saw them go into the water, but we just thought they had jumped in to cool off,” said Anglin. “They were rowing toward one of those jugs people use for fishing.

“However, a few minutes later we turned down our radio and could hear them calling for help, and there was a woman on the shore that was also screaming for someone to help them. The younger man (David Soria) apparently didn't know how to swim, and his uncle (Michael Soria) was doing everything he could to keep his nephew from going under.”

The incident occurred in the White Island area of Lake Thomas.

Anglin said the two men were exhausted by the time he and a friend boated out to assist them.

“They weren't wearing life jackets, so they had been struggling pretty hard,” said Anglin. “We got out there to them and gave them life jackets and helped them to the shore. They were both exhausted. We weren't thinking of being heroes or anything like that, we just knew they needed help.”

According to witnesses, Scurry County EMS, Southwest Medivac, game wardens and Scurry County sheriff's deputies all responded to the scene.

Scurry County Deputy Trey Wilson said the two men were taken to Cogdell Memorial Hospital in Snyder for observation. “They had apparently swallowed a lot of water but other than that, appeared okay,” said Deputy Wilson.

Both men were treated and released.

The Snyder Daily News contributed to this story.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it