Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07), who is running for governor of Wisconsin, faced a life-threatening experience late Saturday night. He was traveling on a small plane, coming back from an event, when the plane lost power and had to make an emergency landing in Lake Wausau. 

As we reported, Tiffany described how the plane started sinking; he and the pilot had to swim to safety, and then first responders had to rescue them by boat. 

Both he and the pilot sustained minor injuries, and they were taken care of at the hospital. 

Tiffany expressed his gratitude to the first responders who helped them, the people who cared for them at the hospital, and to God for "watching over us tonight." 

Given the gravity of the situation, he was very lucky. He released a later update. 

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Thank you to everyone across Wisconsin and around the country who has reached out with prayers and kind words. It has meant so much to me and my family. 

I was released from the hospital last night after receiving stitches above my right eye, and the pilot was also released. We thank God that neither of us suffered more serious injuries after the plane we were traveling in lost power. 

I’m especially grateful to the pilot, the Wausau Fire Department, law enforcement, first responders, and the team at Aspirus Wausau Hospital for their incredible care and quick response. 

I will be addressing the media later today in Wausau. Thank you again for keeping us in your prayers.

Now you would think the proper response to such an incident should be to wish him well and be glad that he survived. His Democrat opponent, David Crowley, did immediately issue such a statement.

The problematic response came from a member of the media, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hope Karnopp. 

She posted tweets about the depth of the lake that she later deleted, saying that the lake was "only" 30 feet deep and then reportedly posted a follow-up to "explain the gravity of the situation," noting "30 feet doesn't seem like much to me." 

Those were not received well by many, who said yes, 30 feet of water is a lot, particularly when a plane comes down like that and at night. Not to mention, it doesn't take a lot of water to drown, which fortunately didn't happen. Why would you even say such a thing? 

Karnopp later posted why she did it, but people were not buying it. 

I posted tweets earlier that were misunderstood. I was attempting to point out that the depth of the lake could have caused the plane to hit rocks, creating an even more dangerous situation. 

I did not mean to imply the depth made the landing less serious. It was the opposite.

Um, you literally said "to explain the gravity of the situation" and that it "didn't seem like much to me."