PORT SAINT LUCIE, Fla. —A Port St. Lucie police officer is being credited with saving a man who had fallen off his sailboat and was struggling to stay afloat, WSVN reported.
Officer Ryan Lodwick was the first to respond at the Club Med Boat Ramps after receiving a 911 call about a man in distress, according to the report. Upon searching the area, he found a 55-year-old man clinging to a rope attached to the dock.
Seeing the man struggling, Lodwick deployed a flotation device to help keep him afloat. Firefighters from the Port St. Lucie County Fire District soon arrived to assist in pulling the man out of the water.
The man told officers he had been working on his sailboat when he fell overboard and could not climb back onto the dock. He managed to call 911 while holding onto the rope.
“The victim was in a lot of distress,” Lodwick said. “He had stated at one point in the hospital that he was ready to give up. He was struggling for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, and luckily, we got there in the time that we did.”
The man was taken to a hospital and treated for hypothermia, according to the report. Lodwick credited his familiarity with the area for allowing him to locate the victim quickly.
