MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Newly released body camera video shows the moments deputies helped save a man\u2019s life after a ramp collapse in Martin County.<\/p>\n
It happened on Sunday morning when the man\u2019s father was wheeling him onto a boat and the ramp they were using came down. <\/p>\n
The man is nonverbal and can\u2019t move his legs or hands and within 90 seconds, the first Martin County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputy was on scene.<\/p>\n
Body camera video shows several good Samaritans in the water, surrounding the man who was strapped into a wheelchair and holding his head above water. <\/p>\n
Mark Appler was the first deputy to arrive. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned the victim weighed about 130 pounds,\u201d he said. \u201cThe wheelchair itself weighed 230 pounds, and being everything was wet, it was making everything a little heavier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their first plan was to use a rope to pull the man and the chair out of the water, but the strap connecting the man to the chair made that impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe top harness that he had was still folding him in and then started to kind of choke him a little bit,\u201d said Appler. \u201cSo we lower him back to the water level to reassess our next approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Deputy Sam Oliver arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty instinctual,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce I got there, I saw the urgency and just jumped in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their next plan was to unharness the man from the chair and use a life vest.<\/p>\n
To keep him above the water, Martin County Fire Rescue provided a backboard, and Oliver swam the man to shore, where he was lifted to safety.<\/p>\n
He had a few scrapes and bruises, but was mostly uninjured.<\/p>\n
The deputies had a story to tell and a lesson learned. To nobody\u2019s surprise, deputies say this is the first time they\u2019ve rescued a man in a wheelchair from the water.<\/p>\n
They say it\u2019s not exactly something they trained for, but added they will be better prepared if it ever happens again.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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