MIAMI (WSVN) - A boat captain is recounting the story of how he jumped into action when he saw a woman jumping over the Brickell Avenue Bridge.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Captain German of Ballyhoo Media said he was heading back home when he noticed a holdup on the bridge., at around 10:15 p.m., Tuesday.
German said he honked his horn, but the drawbridge wouldn’t open.
Soon after, he found out why.
“We see there’s a girl at the middle of the bridge where it splits open, and she’s, um, and she’s just screaming she’s going to jump,” said German.
German recounted the steps he took after he spotted the danger in front of him.
“At that moment, I don’t know, I have training, [so I] picked up the radio and said, ‘Mayday, mayday, this is Ballyhoo 2,'” said German.
The captain quickly called for help.
“We have a potential jumper on the Brickell Bridge,” said German.
Moments after, the woman leapt some 20 feet into the dark waters of the Miami River.
But it was thanks to the warning call from German that helped a City of Miami Fire Boat arrive just in time.
German said that when the woman fell into the water, she had a seizure so if help hadn’t been there, she could’ve died.
“When she did fall, she had like a seizure, and if it wasn’t for them getting there so promptly and me calling them, she probably would have drowned,” said German.
The woman was safely pulled out of the water and taken to the hospital.
“It gave me chills when they told me, they’re like ‘Oh, you know this person almost died,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, wow,'” said German.
Miami Fire Rescue reached out to Ballyhoo Media to thank German and to let him know that his quick actions saved a life.
“Oh yes, yes, yes, they let us know that if it wasn’t for us being there, that person could have passed away,” said German.
This is the second time in a year that a Ballyhoo Media boat captain helped pull someone from the waters of the Miami River.
In August of 2023, two crew members helped a woman on Brickell Key after she was knocked into the water by her dog.
The woman of Tuesday night was taken to the hospital for a checkup and a mental health evaluation.
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