July 08--An off-duty firefighter rescued a man from the Beaufort River Sunday after the man fell from a bridge.
Scott Harris, a firefighter with the Lady's Island St. Helena Fire District, was returning to the Lady's Island boat ramp after spending a day on the river with his family, according to a news release from the fire district.
As he drove under the Woods Memorial Bridge, his wife, Stephanie Harris, saw a man fall from the bridge.
Stephanie Harris told her husband, and Scott Harris noticed someone flailing their arms and gasping for air between the bridge's piling. Harris pulled his boat near the man and asked his wife to take the wheel and drive near where they had last seen the man.
Scott Harris dove out of the boat, but initially couldn't find the man. With a few shallow dives and a sweep of his arms, he found the man underwater, according to the news release.
He hauled the man to the surface where Stephanie Harris was returning with the boat. The men were thrown life vests, and Scott Harris began to talk the man -- who could not swim and was clinging to the piling covered in barnacles -- into the boat.
Then, S.C. Department of Natural Resources arrived. They took the man into their boat, and Scott Harris returned to his.
Both boats headed to the Lady's Island boat ramp, where on-duty firefighters, emergency crews and law enforcement officers were present.
The man was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Scott Harris was treated at the fire station as a precautionary measure given his strong allergy to shellfish.
Emergency responders from the Lady's Island St. Helena Fire District, Beaufort Police, Beaufort County EMS, Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources responded.
Copyright 2013 - The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)
