It’s late Friday morning, and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter is hovering about 70 feet above Lake Erie.

It’s about nine miles out from Manchester Beach in Fairview.

Three men have been rescued from a capsized boat. A fourth man is still trapped underneath it.

Andre Laserna is being lowered to get him. It’s his first rescue.

He swims out to the capsized boat and into the air pocket where the man is.

“He was a little shocked at first, but he was okay,” Laserna said. “He was calm and collected.

After he comes up with a plan to get them out, Laserna has to motivate him.

“I’m fully confident I have the power to take you in with me,” Laserna told him. “But I just need you to at least believe in yourself and know that you can do it.”

He pulls him out of the boat by his ankles, grabs him, and takes him up to the surface.

He’s put on a Coast Guard boat.

Laserna is then lifted back into the helicopter. His first rescue is over. It went well. 

“I saw everybody on the boats, they’re giving me cheers and their waves,” he said.

So, he raised his fists in a brief moment of celebration. 

“It was kind of like [a] ‘Let’s go!’ moment.”