Friday, May 8, 2009

More Good News

I have more good news to share--and another reason that I've been MIA.

SUNHERALD TV: Bystander rescues man being swept downstream
SUN HERALD


Emergency personnel including the Gulfport Fire Department and American Medical Response responded Sunday to a near-drowning at Dedeaux Park on the Biloxi River in Gulfport, a spot that has been the site of several drownings and near drownings in recent years.

The victim, an unidentified adult male, was able to walk with assistance to the ambulance and was taken to an area hospital.

Bystander Tim Gibbs said he heard the man calling for help and ran to the water, where he saw the man being carried downstream by the current.

He said he swam to the man and pulled him to the bank of the river where others assisted.
Thanks to the SunHerald.com for publishing this article online so that I could share it with my friends. Click on the link above to see the story and the video that they took to go along with it.

That of course is only PART of the story. The rest of the story is that the man called for help the first time and he went into the water. By the time the man called for help a second time, he was already halfway to him. The man's son was on the shore yelling for his father. Tim came up behind hm and the man tried to push him under to stay on top of the water. He managed to get the man calm enough to grab a hold of him and pull him to shore. When he arrived on shore the man's legs were blue from the knees down from hypothermia. Tim ran to the road and saw a sherriff deputy that was doing security rounds in the area. He flagged the sherriff deputy down and told him about the man that he pulled to shore and told him that he needed medical attention. The man was able to walk to the shore; but he required assistance on both sides to walk. His toes were still blue when he went to the hospital. (OK so this is still a condensed version of what happened, but I'll wait for the TV segment and other news report to link to here when they come out to tell the whole story if you're interested in the least.)

Since then, he has had this article in the paper written, he has been given an award from the city of Gulfport, and he was filmed for a South Mississippi Heroes segment that will air on our local news next Tuesday night. He also has done one more interview with the paper as a follow-up to this one.

Throughout all of this, my son keeps telling us NOT to tell anyone because it wasn't a big deal. He just swam out to get him because no one else was there to do so. It wasn't a big deal to him. He is so over the attention that has come of it. All the while, I will tell you that I am VERY proud of this 17-yr-old at what he has accomplished.

7 comments:

a good yarn said...

Oh my goodness! Your 17 yo son rescued the man! No wonder you are so proud. He's very fortunate the man didn't drown him in his panic. You've raised a good boy there. Well done.

Happy Mother's Day...Ann :)

Barb said...

Wow, that is amazing and you do have all the reasons in the world to be so proud of him, quick thinker under pressure....how awesome is that??? What a great mom you are....Happy Mother's day!!

Carlotta said...

Oh boy! Bless him for being there at that time, and for selflessly going in the water to help the man. I like his humbleness.
~Tootles for now!

Three Prince Designs said...

All i can say is wow!!

Jan said...

You have every right to be so proud of him!! He truly is a hero, as is his Momma for raising him!!!

Kristina said...

WOW! I have heard that a lot of times people react that way because they are so frightened they are in the flight and fight state of mind. No wonder you are proud! What an amazing son you have. :)

Jennifer said...

Go son!

Where oh where have you been? Girl it's been four weeks.