Video Shows Homeless Man’s Rescue From Bowlees Creek: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — After a resident heard calls for help from Bowlees Creek, deputies rescued a homeless man from the water early Nov. 18, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday.

MCSO shared a video from the rescue, which took place around 1:30 a.m. near Community Christian School, which is located at 5500 18th Street East.

Deputies were initially called to Mike’s Mini Mart located at 57th Avenue and 15th Street East. Once there, a resident told Deputy Dwight Roberts, the first to respond to the call, that they heard a person yelling for help from the woods on the other side of the road, MCSO said.

After walking through a field and into a wooded area, Deputy Roberts located a partially clothed man sitting in about two feet of water underneath a railroad bridge.

The man was unable to move, claiming he had been stuck in the creek for two days, MCSO said. He said that he had been calling out for help, but no one responded.

The man, who is homeless, said he was bathing in the creek when he fell and was unable to get up due to a previous leg injury, MCSO said.

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When other deputies arrived, they lifted the man from the water. Because of the area’s remoteness, EMS was unable to reach the man with a stretcher, so the deputies — Roberts, Brittany Carannante, Tara Burge, Ryan Emkey and Conner Gulash — used a blanket to carry him about 250 yards down the railroad tracks. Deputy Scott Fisher directed EMS and helped with the final part of the journey after a resident gave them a wheelchair.

The man was brought to a local hospital by EMS for treatment. His extremities were waterlogged to the point that his skin was coming off and he was suffering from the early stages of hypothermia, MCSO said.