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(NewsDakota.com) A Sargent County man is fighting for his life in a Fargo hospital after a near drowning in a slough over the weekend. 

Sargent County Sheriff Travis Paeper says 57 year old William VanderVoort was swimming in the northwestern part of the Kraft Slough Sunday evening around 6 p.m., when friends lost sight of him and called 911 to report him missing.

Paeper estimates VanderVoort had been in eight to ten feet of water for nearly 20 minutes before he was pulled from the water, transported to the Oakes Hospital and later life-flighted to Fargo.

Preliminary investigation reports suggest no foul play is suspected, and the investigation is continuing.