Coaches from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, were in the right place at the right time to save a life this week. An unidentified 23-year-old man crashed his car off of a bridge into the Charles River in Cambridge on Monday night where members of the NU crew team happened to be practicing nearby.
Beatrice Sims and Trevor Appier, both assistant coaches at Northeastern, were only about 10 feet away from the car when it went into the water. As the car began to slowly sink, they were able to throw the driver a life jacket. They moved their boat closer and helped pull him onboard. After calling 911, they delivered him safely to shore.
“If we had not been passing by or he didn’t know how to swim, potentially, I don’t know if that would have gone as smoothly as it did,” Appier says. “You’re sort of in shock when it happens but being able to react appropriately in a situation like that is something that we do train for,” added Sims. “And we do prepare for because you never know what’s going to happen out there on the water.”
Sims and Appier say the man can’t remember the incident and he even asked what happened. Police believe he suffered a medical episode before driving his vehicle off the bridge. He was later taken to Boston Hospital with minor injuries.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Source:People