A Virginia man set out on a relaxing vacation to Florida and wound up becoming a hero in not one, but two rescue situations.
Gus Hertz of Roanake, VA was relaxing at a St. Petersburg, FL summer vacation condo with his wife, Stephanie, when his peaceful trip became action-packed. On Wednesday, a scary sight caught Stephanie's eye as she looked out the window. A car had veered off the road and into the water under the Isla Key Bridge, The Tampa Bay Times reports.
A fisherman in a boat waved frantically as the BMW submerged. Hertz ran out of the condo as his wife called 911. With the fisherman, Hertz jumped into the water and rescued a man from inside the car. The man had suffered from a diabetic attack and drove off of the road. When Hertz found him, he was unconscious but breathing.
The next day, Hertz thought he would get a fresh start to his vacation after Wednesday's heroic act, but the father of four found himself in the midst of yet another rescue mission as he was fishing.
Hertz watched as a small, light plane with two people on board got thrown around and flipped by high winds and crashed just 500 yards from his boat. He dropped his fishing rod and sprang into action. He dragged the pilot, 74-year-old Rodney Tyoe, and his female passenger, onto his four-person boat. He then drove the boat to O'Neill's Marina where emergency responders took over. The female was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
Hertz doesn't want special attention or recognition for his heroic act. "I pulled people out of the water. I gave them a boat ride," he said. "I was in the right place at the right time. ... It was luck. Pure coincidence," Hertz told The Tampa Bay Times.
Local police did show appreciation for Hertz's actions.
"When you have citizens that are willing to step up while they're waiting for us to get there and risk whatever it takes and make a difference, it does help us tremendously," James D. Large, chief of the St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue Department told ABC News.
The Miami Herald reported that the city's mayor and fire chief will honor Hertz during a ceremony on Thursday.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
