Chris Holbeck says a rescue ring is never far away at his National Park Service Office along Omaha's riverfront.
Holbeck is a biologist there and used that ring when he came to the rescue a man who jumped off the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and into the Missouri River Tuesday morning. "I tried to catch up to the guy and throw him the ring," Holbeck tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB.
Holbeck says he could keep up with the man, but couldn't get to him. "I kept calling to him to keep his head above water and to swim toward shore. Eventually the boardwalk runs out and I lost sight of the guy."
Holbeck says at that point he feared the worst. "I thought he had drown. He had gone under water once that I saw. So I started searching the river bank and sure enough there he was and I pulled him from the river," Holbeck says.
Holbeck said he has seen several people jump from the bridge and has participated in several river rescues, but this was the first time he saved someone. The man pulled out of the river was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover.