staff | wtvm9

A Lanett, Alabama, man almost drowned in West Point Lake Thursday evening. That, and two other accidents at the lake this week have park rangers reminding you to always wear a life jacket while boating.

After throwing the owner out, one boat turned in circles Sunday until it ran out of gas. Another caught fire Thursday, forcing its owner to swim for shore. Andrew Wilkerson almost drowned that same night.

Wilkerson was steering his boat to his campsite Thursday evening when he quickly found himself in the water.

"When I got about right in there, a big wave hit me, and I lost control. It just flipped over," said Wilkerson.

John Young quickly put his boat in the water when he saw Wilkerson was about to drown.

"Luckily, there were people on the shore hollering at us. When we turned around, he popped up. As we headed to him, he went back down again," said Young.

Richard Wilkerson already lost his daughter to cancer, and he was praying he wouldn't have to lose Andrew as well.

"That thought ran through my head that I may have to go through that again, and I didn't think I could go through that again," said Wilkerson.

Even after being in the water for 15 minutes, his son refused to give up.

"It was a fight, and all I could think about was my daughter, my wife and the rest of my family," Andrew Wilkerson said.

Ricky Roberson pulled Wilkerson from the water, and was thankful to see him Friday morning.

"It was great to see him walk up. We weren't sure if he was going to make it out today," said Roberson, a firefighter from Douglas County, Georgia.

West Point Lake park ranger David Barr said you should always be prepared when you go out on a boat.

"We can't encourage people enough. You just never know when disaster's going to strike. When you're on the lake, we always encourage people to wear a life jacket," said Barr.

Andrew Wilkerson keeps a life jacket in his boat, and said this was the one time he didn't put it on. He said he'll wear it from now on. Wilkerson was treated for hypothermia and severe exhaustion Thursday, but is doing well and is very grateful to the men who saved him.