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QUINCY, ILL. -- We have more details on that tubing accident that sent two men through Lock and Dam 21 in Quincy Monday, May 31.

The two men, ages 22 and 21, were tubing near the lock and dam.

They were knocked off and both went through the locks.

One of the men quickly popped up shortly beyond the dam.

He was picked up by a local fisherman on a pontoon boat.  He only needed a few stitches above his eye.

The other man went through and was tossed back up against the locks by the current.

There were some people having a cookout near the area.

After many attempts they were finally able to get a line and a life jacket to him and pull him aboard.

The Story Continues Below.....
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Tuesday, KHQA's Jarod Wells talked with one of the men who helped save the life of one of the men and found out what you need to know to avoid a similar situation.

Adams County Sheriff's Deputy Fred Kientzle Jr. said, "My dad got a call that some people had been in a boat wreck down near Lock and Dam 21."

The two men had gone through the locks and were actually below the dam. That's near where Adams County Sheriff's Deputy Fred Kientzle Junior and some friends were having a cook out.  So he and one other person took a 16 foot john boat near lock and dam 21.

Kientzle Jr. Said, "It took us quite a few times to try and get the boat up in there because that water and the current is so strong. It probably took us 20 times to get our boat up in there where it needed to be.  I tied a ski vest onto the bow rope, threw the bow rope in there twice and the current just drug it back out. Finally we get the life vest back in there to him on the rope and told him to hold on and pulled him out."

Kientzle realizes they were in just as much danger as the people in the water and says they probably shouldn't have been there, that close to the dam.

Kientzle Jr. Said, "Had to do something, we were already there, we saw him, he saw us. I know if that was me, I wouldn't want somebody to give up."

No citations were written through this whole incident, but no boats are allowed within 600 feet of the dam.

IL D.N.R. Conservation Officer Eric Myers said, "We would recommend at least 2 to 3 times that when you're boating. That way if you have any engine trouble, if you have anything go wrong you still have plenty of time to get out of the area."

The current around a lock and dam is extremely strong, that's why you want to avoid them at all cost.

Myers said, "It changes in every situation, so it's never the same out here, it's constantly changing. It can suck you in faster one day or you may have time to get out of there the next day."

And if you are sucked into the locks, you won't necessarily be spit back out on the other side, like the case on Monday (5/31) . So if you find yourself being pulled towards a lock and dam, try to get to something solid on the dam and hold on.

Myers said, "if you go through the only thing that's probably going to save you is a life jacket."

A conservation officer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources also says if you are coming close to a lock and dam in a boat always remain with the boat.

He says you should never jump out and try to swim away.