Man thrown overboard while rafting flooded Broad River, rescued by inmates
Madison County sheriff’s Lt. Mark Jerome and his work crew recently stopped their vehicle at a flooded road to put up a barrier stopping traffic when another motorist alerted them to a dangerous situation.
“There’s a man out of his boat in the river,” the motorist shouted to the deputy.
A massive rainstorm had dumped water on the region the day before and the roaring Broad River was in a major flood stage swelling far over its banks.
Jerome, who was accompanied by four inmates recruited to help with the tasks involving flooded roadways, looked toward the Broad River from his position along Roy Woods Road.
“There’s a guy in the water,” Jerome recalled one of his crew shouting.
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Apparently without hesitation, inmates Fred Brooks and Gavin Gresham, leap from the van and ran toward the river, Jerome said.
Jerome said he could see the man's rubber raft rolling downstream in the fast current and it's former occupant treading water and holding onto a paddle.
When the stranded man floated close to the bank, Brooks stepped into the water and grabbed the paddle, and was able to help the man to shore.
The rafter, who appeared to be in his 40s, was wearing a scuba diver’s wet suit and a helmet.
Jerome said he wasn't pleased that someone challenged the dangerous waters of the roaring river.
“I said, ‘You’re a fool. You should never have been in the water on a day like today. You’re lucky you’re even alive,'” Jerome recalled telling the man.
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The man asked if he could try to retrieve his raft before the rushing waters took it too far away and the deputy told him he could not.
The man, who was not identified, said his car was parked downstream at the Highway 72 bridge. Jerome said he figures someone took him upstream to let him have his dangerous trek on the river, which under normal conditions is popular with kayakers and canoers.
Two men, who also stopped at the location to view the raging waters, offered to take the man to his car and they left.
Jerome said he was impressed by the fast actions of his crew, who leapt into action as soon as they saw the stranded rafter struggling in the raging water.
“In some spots it was kicking up like a 3-foot rooster,” he remarked about the river waves.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Madison County inmates help rescue rafter in flooded Broad Driver
