A local police officer vacationing with his family in Florida over spring break saved an elderly man from drowning.
Cpl. Todd Huckstep of the Crawfordsville Police Department was camping along a river in the city of Bonita Springs, near Fort Myers Beach, when he made the late-night rescue.
“We were standing outside and I heard off in the distance somebody yell, ‘Help,’” Huckstep said. “And I kind of paused for a minute not sure exactly what it was that I heard and then I heard, ‘Someone help me, please.’”
Huckstep ran about 175 yards to the river, where he saw an elderly man trying to help an unresponsive person who was face down in the water. An alligator sighting had been reported days earlier.
“I wasn’t sure if he had been attacked by an alligator or not. I didn’t necessarily want to jump in right away if there had been an alligator there that was close,” he said.
Huckstep reached into the river and pulled the unresponsive man to the edge of the water line, but couldn’t get him over a steep embankment. Bystanders formed a human chain to try to rescue the man. Huckstep eventually jumped into the brackwish water and pulled the man out. The other man was also brought to safety.
Huckstep’s 15-year-old son, Rylan, and his friend, Jayden Smoot, who had stayed behind in the campground, rode their bicycles to the park entrance to meet the ambulance and escort it to the river. The victim was taken to a local hospital.
“I don’t know the outcome, if he made it or not,” Huckstep said. “It doesn’t make any difference where you’re at in the United States or the world, you know, we’re always there to do what we can to try to help people. You can’t go somewhere and shy away from things just because it’s not your own community.”
Chief Aaron Mattingly praised Huckstep’s actions.
“It really does speak to the quality of officers we have at the Crawfordsville Police Department,” Mattingly said. “It’s proof, as well, that this profession is a 24/7. Huckstep knew someone needed help and did not hesitate to act.”
