Woman rescued from river after jumping from downtown Beaufort dock, firefighters say
Firefighters pulled a woman from the water after she jumped into the river from a downtown Beaufort dock and was pulled away by the incoming tide.
An emergency call just before 6 p.m. Wednesday said a woman had jumped from Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown Beaufort to Lady’s Island, into the Beaufort River, said Ross Vezin, a battalion chief with Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department.
The woman, who Vezin said was 30 years old, actually went into the water from the city’s day dock, extending from Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, he said.
A fire officer who arrived in the park saw the woman in the water being carried by the incoming tide toward the Old Point neighborhood on the other side of the bridge, Vezin said.
Three firefighters — Jason Garber, Zakary Morgan and Gerald LaHay — jumped in the water from a private dock from a home on Port Republic Street and were able to bring the woman to the dock using a rescue rope, according to a fire department news release.
The woman was conscious, treated by paramedics and taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital for an evaluation, Vezin said.
Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District firefighters and Beaufort Water Search and Rescue volunteers assisted the rescue by boat.
A phone message for a Beaufort Police Department spokesman wasn’t immediately returned Thursday.
