Three off-duty Sumiton paramedics helped rescue a man who was drowning last weekend.
ISumiton firefighters Mikey Waid, Brodie Waid and Micha Wilson were relaxing on a pontoon boat in Panama City, Fla. in the canal near Sunset Grill.
The three heard calls for help. Mikey Waid dove off the boat and pulled a man up from the water who had fallen off his boat.
The three Sumiton firefighters got the man onto another boat and performed CPR until paramedics from Escambia Fire And Rescue arrived on the scene.
“I would just say we were at the right place at the right time to help someone that was in need of some serious help,” Mikey Waid said. “It really was never a question should we help. It was decided by all of us in a split second that we had to do something. I was just the one that decided I was jumping in to get him.
“I didn’t really feel any certain way going over to get him,” Waid added. “I guess it comes from doing this job for so long that things that put people in awe of you is just another day at work for me.”
The man survived the incident thanks to the quick work of the three men from Sumiton.
“It really came down to if not us then who? So we decided it was up to us,” Mikey Waid said. “I never really thought this thing would be this big of a deal and none of us are heroes. It was just courage meeting circumstance. If anything, I just hope the guy we pulled out of the water is ok and making a full recovery.”
