Retired firefighter helps rescue man in lake
By Hayley Crombleholme
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SEMINOLE COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A retired Seminole County firefighter jumped into action to help rescue a motorcyclist thrown into the water after an accident on a bridge.
It all happened Friday on Lake Jesup.
“Those split seconds can mean the world. I mean it means a life,” said Terry Myers, who worked for the Seminole County Fire Department for more than three decades.
He says he was in the right place at the right time Friday.
“It was perfect timing,” he said. “We beat the fire department’s boat there by five minutes just because I was here.”
He was home when he said he got a call from a lieutenant asking if he could get his boat in the water on Lake Jesup to help rescue a motorcyclist thrown off a bridge and into the water.
“Me and my wife come running down. Jumped in the boat, cranked it up, ran over and got them,” Myers said. “The minute we got there, we just ran up on the shore. The crew from Engine 35 jumped on, and we took them up the lake.”
When they got there, firefighters were doing what they could to help the motorcyclist from the bridge above.
“Luckily, the guys on the bridge had already thrown him a floatation device and a rope,” Myers said. “It doesn’t always happen that way. It doesn’t always happen that he was so lucky that he didn’t get knocked out going over the bridge. He was able to hold on to the pole until they threw him something. Minutes, minutes count big time. It’s a life. In a lot of cases, it is.”
The fire department says the motorcyclist was conscious and alert after the accident and complained of foot pain.
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