The parents of a 19-year-old man say they are in “immense pain” after the man, whose celebration of life is set for this week, died when he fell into a lake while canoeing in Oakwood Hills.
The Cary, Fox River Grove and Nunda Rural fire protection districts responded around 1 a.m. on March 3 to the 100 block of Lake Shore Drive in Oakwood Hills for a report of a water rescue on Silver Lake.
Cary Fire Protection District Lt. Michael Douglass said arriving personnel found several bystanders who advised that two men had taken a canoe onto the lake.
The canoe was approximately halfway across the lake when it flipped over and both people fell into the water.
One of the subjects, a 20-year-old Schaumburg resident, was able to swim to shore before firefighters arrived.
The man was evaluated on the scene by paramedics but declined to be taken to the hospital, Douglass said.
The other person in the boat was unaccounted for.
Douglass said water rescue operations were set up at North Beach and boats and divers entered the lake to search for the subject.
The incident was upgraded through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) for additional divers, boats and side sonar technicians to the scene.
The resources came from multiple fire departments, including Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, Barrington-Countryside, Buffalo Grove, Crystal Lake, Countryside, Fox Lake, Grayslake, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Wauconda and Woodstock.
The Oakwood Hills Police Department, Cary Police Department and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
The sheriff’s office deployed a drone to assist with the search. The incident was switched from a water rescue to a water recovery around 2:30 a.m.
A boat with a side sonar around 3:30 a.m. located the 19-year-old man approximately 60 feet from shore in water approximately 12 feet deep, Douglass said.
A fire department diver swam down from the boat to search. The body was recovered and brought to shore.
Paramedics confirmed the 19-year-old man was deceased and no resuscitation efforts were performed, Douglass said.
McHenry County Coroner Dr. Michael Rein identified the victim as Thane Kilbourn, 19, of Glendale, Wisconsin.
Heidi Kilbourn, the man’s mother, said her family is “faced with the insurmountable pain” of losing their son and brother. “My heart is shattered.”
Kent Kilbourn, the man’s father, said his family is in “immense pain” at the sudden loss.
“Thane we love you so much and our hearts are heavy right now. We are all better people to have known you. You taught me how to be selfless and to love unconditionally,” Kent Kilbourn said.
A GoFundMe account has raised over $20,000 for the family to help deal with the unexpected financial difficulties.
“The world has lost a beautiful and kind human. Thane is a son, brother, grandson, friend, and means so much, to so many people,” Kyle Kilbourn said on the fundraiser page.
A celebration of life is scheduled at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Friday evening.
The incident remains under investigation by the Oakwood Hills Police Department and McHenry County Coroner’s Office.