A Pasco deputy who jumped a fence and sprinted across an expansive estate to rescue a drowning man is being hailed a hero by his comrades.
Deputy Taylor Grant was responding to a drowning call at a home on Green Key Road in New Port Richey at about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The 51-year-old victim was in the water, trapped between the seawall and a floating walkway.
According to his wife, had been in the water for roughly 30 minutes.
“From what the wife said, he wanted to go look out at the scenery before a doctor’s appointment and after she realized he was gone past the time they were supposed to leave, she tried calling him. She couldn’t get ahold of him,” Deputy Grant said.
When she found him, she called 911 and Grant got the call. He managed to scale the fence and ran to the man in time to save his life.
“Number one thing was just get there. It didn’t matter how. I looked a the wall and I saw that it was much taller than me, and I saw where there was a small electrical box and I figured it might hold my weight and I used it propel myself up,” Deputy Grant said.
When Deputy Grant got to him after that 30-second sprint, his first order of business was “to get him back on dry land. I could see he was struggling. He was semi-conscience, but he was obviously not to the point where he could pull himself up.”
Deputy Grant has only been with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office for only 18 months. This is his first law enforcement job. Watching the video, he sees he could’ve done things differently, “and I can see my job does make a difference to some people,” he said.
Grant will never forget this day.
“My thoughts were with the family because obviously, they were preparing for any other day and obviously it wasn’t like any other day for them,” he said.
The man was rushed to North Bay Hospital where he remains in critical condition and will be intubated for an unknown amount of time, according to hospital officials.
