Belle Isle rescue: ‘Not a good idea to ride a tree down the river’
A very lucky man was rescued from the James River at the First Break Rapids at Belle Isle Monday evening. “It’s not a good idea to ride a tree down the river. That speaks for itself,” said Richmond Fire Department Battalion Chief, John Harkness. NBC12.com has the full story and 10 minutes of raw video footage of the rescue. […]
A very lucky man was rescued from the James River at the First Break Rapids at Belle Isle Monday evening. “It’s not a good idea to ride a tree down the river. That speaks for itself,” said Richmond Fire Department Battalion Chief, John Harkness. NBC12.com has the full story and 10 minutes of raw video footage of the rescue.
An amazing water rescue at Belle Isle this afternoon. A man gets stuck in the middle of the James River [at about 6.5 feet by Westham gauge] and has to scream for help. Rescuers tell us the man was riding a tree down the James River when that tree got caught on a rock, wedging his foot in between it. He couldn’t move and it took nearly 40 people and a strong rope, to pull the tree from off his foot.
“We were walking down the path and the next thing you know we just heard this guy screaming and we thought it was fake at first,” said eyewitness, Tom Robinson.
Robinson and his friend quickly realized what they were witnessing was a man fighting for his life and called 911. An off duty firefighter jumped in to help until medics arrived.
-
Recommend this
on Facebook -
Report an error
-
Subscribe to our
Weekly Digest
This article has been closed to further comments.