The Hammond man who died early Sunday morning while duck-hunting on Lake Michigan, after falling overboard near NIPSCO’s Bailly Generating Station, died of “hypothermic shock,” Porter County Victoria Deppe told the Chesterton Tribune today.

An autopsy conducted on Monday determined that Robert Kot, 43, sustained hypothermic shock after falling into the cold water, Deppe said. That shock constricted his arteries and a “cardiac event” ensued.

Kot had been duck-hunting with two other hunters from a boat, had just set some decoys in the water, and was attempting to secure the boat to the generating station “donut”—a structure that protects water intake—when he fell overboard, according to the Law Enforcement Division of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

After several unsuccessful efforts to get Kot back into the boat, Kot’s hunting companions motored into shore, where they were able to get him onto the beach with the assistance of the Porter Fire Department’s Dive/Rescue Team. Porter hospital EMS personnel were unable to resuscitate Kot at the scene, however, and he was subsequently transported to hospital.

Posted 11/27/2007