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Firemen rescue girl in nick of time
Navarre lass almost succumbs to rough water, exhaustion
Cassandra Dunn of Tidewater Drive in Navarre nearly drowned after responding on a jet-ski to a paddleboat emergency involving her sister, Jenna, 21, and a collegeage friend visiting from Kansas. The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on Oct. 16 after strong northerly winds associated with a passing coldfront whipped up 2- to 3-foot waves in the Sound. Jenna Dunn and Teresa Farson were without life vests as their paddleboat began taking on water and drifting into the channel of the Intracoastal Waterway. Jenna Dunn and her dog, a 4-year-old Australian Shepherd, managed to swim to shore. Cassandra Dunn, Jenna’s sister, borrowed a neighbor’s jet-ski and attempted to rescue Farson before Cassandra suddenly became the potential victim.
She likely would have drowned seconds later.
Kanzigg said there was not a second to spare as he and Ward reached Cassandra, who was attempting to float on her back. The firefighters put their rescue boat in the water 2.5 miles away at the Woodlawn Beach Boat Ramp and sped as fast as the 40-horsepower engine would take them on the bumpy, wind-blown Sound. “There have only been a few times in my career where I have actually saved somebody’s life who was seconds away from dying,” Kanzigg said. “This was definitely one of them. “If we had had any hiccups in our response, be it mechanical, delays in traffic or been on another call, there’s no doubt in my mind she would have drowned. Her friend was about 100 feet away and drifting further by the second. She would have had no choice than to watch her drown.” The water outing started innocently enough at about 10 a m. as Jenna Dunn, a certified lifeguard, and Farson and the family dog ventured onto the then-flat Sound in a two-person plastic paddleboat. Since they were near the northern shore, the water around them stayed relatively calm as a strong cold front moved into the area, whipping up waves on the open Sound in a matter of minutes. Suddenly, the two girls were being pushed into the Sound toward Santa Rosa Island. Jenna exited the paddle boat and started swimming toward shore with the boat in tow. After 30 minutes of continual tugging, she realized she was not going to be able to pull her friend to safety. She and the dog left Farson and swam in from another halfmile to call for help. Reacting to the situation on shore, Cassandra Dunn raced to a neighbor’s house to borrow a jetski. She took off for the paddleboat without putting on a life vest. Minutes later, Cassandra was able to get Teresa onto the jet-ski. However, the jet-ski stalled, and the two became stranded. Cassandra jumped into the water to try and retrieve the paddleboat, and the two vessels suddenly drifted dangerously apart. Cassandra realized she was in trouble. “The current was strong!” she said. “I started panicking. I was screaming at Teresa at the top of my lungs to come help me, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know how to operate the jet-ski. “I knew that help was coming, but I didn’t know how long it would take or whether I’d last that long,” Cassandra said. “So I just tried to calm myself and float as long as I could. I just waited and tried to hold my breath.” Kanzigg and Ward, en route to the scene, could not see the paddle boat, Teresa on the jet-ski or Cassandra in the water because of the extreme swells and waves. However, back at the dock Norton achieved visual contact through his binoculars and directed the two rescuers to the precise area. “By a miracle, I finally saw (Cassandra’s) head 30 to 40 feet ahead of us, and we barely had time to turn the boat to keep from running over her,” Kanzigg said. “We killed the motor, and she actually went right under the nose of the boat. We reached down and pulled her from under the boat. “I think Josh got a hand on her first. Then we were both able to pull her out of the water and into the boat. She was shaken and exhausted. She said she had already blacked out and given up.” The men then intercepted Teresa on the powerless jet-ski and helped her into the rescue boat. Ward was able to get the jet-ski running and steered it back to shore. Kanzigg returned the two girls safely back to the shore for waiting paramedics. “We were concerned about the exposure they experienced with the water, the cold north wind blowing on them,” Norton said. “They were in the water approximately a half-hour, maybe slightly more. I’m guessing the water temperature was in the upper 60s or lower 70s.” None of the girls required hospitalization. Later that evening, a sailboat ran aground in the Bay north of the peninsula. Midway Fire District personnel responded, but the occupants of that boat refused assistance, choosing to ride out the gale-force winds. Kanzigg said the only two rescue boats in South Santa Rosa County belong to Midway Fire District and the City of Gulf Breeze. Gulf Breeze Fire and Rescue is hoping to replace its boat with a newer, more modern model. “There have been more lives saved with those two boats than any other piece of equipment that our fire departments have, hands-down,” Kanzigg said. “We probably had 3-4 rescues last year, and a couple of them were actually critical, life-anddeath within-seconds rescues. “We were in the right place at the right time on this one. It was nerve-wracking but one of the highlights of my career,” the chief added. Cassandra Dunn certainly was thankful for the responders’ efforts. “It was great when they grabbed me,” she said. “They have definitely inspired me. It’s made me appreciative of every day. It gives me the creeps, but I’m also thankful, to think that everything I’ve been able to do since last Friday was made possible by their heroism.” |
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