Lake Wylie ‘plungers’ get ‘numb’ for a special cause

ROCK HILL

Wearing an oversized plastic red cup and holding two toilet plungers, Josh Myers announced he was stuck.

“I’ll save you!” yelled his girlfriend Merissa Flaherty, who waded into the cold Lake Wylie water on Saturday wearing a towel turban and pink bathrobe.

The crowd of nearly 200 yelled and clapped as Myers walked back to shore, throwing his plungers into the air and throwing his head back like Rocky Balboa.

Myers and Flaherty joined the large crowd at Ebenezer Park for the Special Olympics Frozen Fans Polar Plunge, where participants stripped to their bathing suits and “plunged” into Lake Wylie.

“It was like freezing cold water,” Myers said, as a girl nearby squealed and said “I’m numb.”

“To me, it felt like bathing in a thousand ice cubes,” Flaherty said.

The fundraiser benefits the Area 11 Special Olympics, which includes more than 1,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities in York, Chester and Lancaster counties.

The Area 11 chapter will use the $9,700 raised at Saturday’s event to train the athletes, both children and adults, and to pay for competitions, said Director Kathy Covington.

“This kind of helps us make it through the year,” she said, holding a large rubber ducky.

To donate to the Area 11 Special Olympics, visit firstgiving.com and search for Area 11 Polar Plunge, or email area11@so-sc.org.

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Lake Wylie ‘plungers’ get ‘numb’ for a special cause."