A construction worker who fell 150 feet from the Ambassador Bridge into the Detroit River on Wednesday was rescued after people gathered at a park about a quarter-mile from the bridge saw him fall. They ran to alert a nearby mail boat, which pulled the worker from the water.
The worker, described as a man in his 20s, was taken to a hospital and was expected to recover, CBC News reported. He was not identified, and the extent of his injuries was unknown.
The worker fell from scaffolding under the bridge at about 4:20 p.m. People gathered at Riverside Park saw him fall.
They ran to the nearby J.W. Westcott Co., a boat service that delivers mail and packages to ore carriers and ships on the river, and asked for help, WXYZ 7 Action News in Detroit reported.
The witnesses included Hollis Davist, who is from Detroit. He told WXYZ 7 Action News he was at the riverfront with his family when the worker fell.
There were “about 20 people out here, really excited and yelling for us to get him out of the water,” Capt. Sam Buchanan told clickondetroit.com.
Buchanan and two crew members launched the boat J.W. Westcott to get the worker. People on shore helped direct the crew. Buchanan estimated the worker was in the water for less than three minutes.
“They were there so fast,” Davist told clickondetroit.com. “They got him out of the water and we saved a life today.”
The worker was “still conscious and talking,” Buchanan said. The man said he was working on the bridge and didn’t know what had happened.
The impact ripped some of the clothes off the worker, Buchanan told CBC News. The J.W. Westcott returned to its dock, where the Detroit Fire Department and EMS staffers were waiting.
The worker was later identified as a contractor for the bridge company, according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The Ambassador Bridge is an international suspension bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. At 7,500 feet long, it’s the largest international suspension bridge in the world.
The accident is under investigation.
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Associated Press; Detroit Free Press
