reach the man, who is still holding onto that life ring just a few feet from the edge of the falls. when we first got up to him, the water was literally running completely over his face. i could see his eyes he was looking up at me under the water, looking at me. it was surreal. i never will forget this as long as i live because his arm was outstretched. he s almost losing the ring. pat reaches under and grabs the only thing that he could, the fingers that are out of the water. and he had him just by the four fingers, and he s holding him. i pulled as hard as i could. i was able to get his face out of the water so he could breathe. he could breathe and talk. he just told us, let me go. he just gave up. he said, save yourselves. let me go. let me go. we more or less had some choice words for him and told him that we didn t come this far to let you go now, that all of us are going up. you ve got to help us. carella manages to get underneath the victim and is able to slip
i said to gary, if we lose our footing, we ll end up under the ice under the water, and that was the last thing i wanted to have happen. moriarty can t know it yet, but he would soon face his greatest fear. but for now, they inch out into the raging waters, hoping to get the man a life ring. onshore, a rescue worker finds a suicide note from the man now fighting fiercely for his life. but carella and moriarty know nothing about the note, and they re able to make contact with the victim. we wanted to reassure him, tell him that we re coming to get you, we re here for you. he was able to yell loud enough that i can t stand here much longer. i m cold. and he said he s getting weaker. carella and moriarty can t stand there much longer either. we could feel our feet being pulled from under us, and we looked at each other and i said, this is going to have to be a no-go. so plan b kicked in at that time. and fortunately plan b arrives from the air.
when i saw the victim standing almost in waist-deep water right at the brink of the falls, the hair on the back of my neck went up. moriarty immediately calls the fire department and the helicopter rescue unit. he also calls the power company upriver and asks them to use their dam to lower the water level. within minutes, niagara firefighter gary carella arrives on the scene. where the victim was standing is almost impossible to fathom. it is one of the most dangerous positions that a person can put themselves in. if i was a betting man, i would bet 99.9 times out of 100, that no one could stand that close to the falls. carella, moriarty, and the rest of the rescue team meet to come up with a plan. they know there isn t much time. darkness is setting in, and it s only getting colder. our training and experience tells us we only have slight minutes to get him out of that position, or he may go into shock or even cardiac arrest due to hypothermia.
falls. when we first got up to him, the water was literally running completely over his face. i could see his eyes he was looking up at me under the water, looking at me. it was surreal. i never will forget this as long as i live because his arm was outstretched. he s almost losing the ring. pat reaches under and grabs the only thing that he could, the fingers that are out of the water. and he had him just by the four fingers, and he s holding him. i pulled as hard as i could. i was able to get his face out of the water so he could breathe. he could breathe and talk. he just told us, let me go. he just gave up. he said, save yourselves. let me go. let me go. we more or less had some choice words for him and told him that we didn t come this far to let you go now, that all of us are going up. you ve got to help us. carella manages to get underneath the victim and is able to slip a harness around his body. once the harness is on, he wraps his arms and legs around the man
ice under the water, and that was the last thing i wanted to have happen. moriarty can t know it yet, but he would soon face his greatest fear. but for now, they inch out into the raging waters, hoping to get the man a life ring. onshore, a rescue worker finds a suicide note from the man now fighting fiercely for his life. but carella and moriarty know nothing about the note, and they re able to make contact with the victim. we wanted to reassure him, tell him that we re coming to get you, we re here for you. he was able to yell loud enough that i can t stand here much longer. i m cold. and he said he s getting weaker. carella and moriarty can t stand there much longer either. we could feel our feet being pulled from under us, and we looked at each other and i said, this is going to have to be a no-go. so plan b kicked in at that time. and fortunately plan b arrives from the air.