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A Canadian worker on the Ambassador Bridge is one lucky guy after surviving a fall Wednesday afternoon into the Detroit River.
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“This man has probably been through the worst day of his life and the best day of his life all at once,” said Windsor Port Authority harbour master Peter Berry.
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Berry said the man was working on the road deck surface on the American side of the international bridge when he plunged between 140 and 150 feet into the river.
It is unknown how the incident happened but Berry said Thursday authorities in Detroit were investigating.
The fall was witnessed by folks fishing along the shoreline and by staff with J.W. Westcott Company. Nearby anglers and the marine freight forwarding service company jumped into action, alerting emergency services while heading straight for the man and pulling him out of the water.
“The fishermen along the shore and the people on the Westcott saved this man’s life, no question,” Berry said.
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“Typically when you hit (the water from that kind of distance) you’ll come up out of buoyancy, out of oxygen and then your injuries start to take over and you go into the water and drown,” he added. “That’s what this man could have faced.
“He probably would have been swept down the river and drowned.”
The Westcott crew reported the man was conscious and able to speak when they pulled him out of the water. He told his rescuers he knew where he was and what had happened.
The man was taken to shore at the Westcott boat dock where first responders — Detroit Fire and Detroit EMS paramedics — assisted him and took him to an area hospital. It’s unknown what his condition was Thursday afternoon.
“What the man has been through is horrific and miraculous at the same time,” Berry said. “In 14 years, I don’t know of anybody that’s come off that bridge, whether voluntarily or by accident, that survived.
“The people of the J.W. Westcott and those fishermen along shore are truly heroes,” he said. “They did the right thing. They sought help. They kept an eye on him.
“They did everything that in the business of search and rescue we would hope from witnesses. They didn’t hesitate to spring to action.”
The J.W. Westcott normally delivers mail to the crews aboard passing freighters in transit up and down the Detroit River.
jkotsis@postmedia.com
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