JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A police sergeant in Jacksonville, Florida is being called a hero for rescuing a woman from the St. Johns River after a citizen called to report a body floating in it.
Officers responded to the call just before 1 p.m. Tuesday and spotted the body heading south with the current, which was picking up.
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Sgt. Billy Irvin jumped into the water to try to rescue the person, not sure if she was alive or not.
Irvin reached the woman in the middle of the river between the Hyatt and The Landing and signaled that she was alive.
A group of three construction workers saw what was going on and helped Irvin pull the woman from the water onto their boat.
“We thank them for stepping up and helping our sergeant in a time of need,” the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office wrote on its Facebook page.
A fellow sergeant snapped a photo of Irvin as he got off the boat back on dry land. JSO said several people witnessed Irvin going “above and beyond the call of duty” and risking his life to save the woman.
“He is a hero to all of us and all of the people who witnessed this going on,” JSO wrote. “So many citizens came up just to shake his hand, thanking him for his heroic efforts.”
The sheriff's office did not release information on the woman's identity, her condition or how she ended up in the river.
This story is courtesy of KSAT sister station, WJXT.