Ten men receive honor for life-saving actions on Savannah River

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Wednesday, the Chatham County Police Department honored ten men, who the department called heroes, for their quick thinking and life-saving actions last spring on the Savannah River.

Last April, a man, woman and five year old boy were on a boat on the Savannah River when it ran into a barge, tossing all three into the swift river current.

A group of workers nearby saw what happened and jumped into the water to help rescue the boaters.

When Chatham County Marine Patrol got on scene minutes after the accident, the workers had rescued the woman and child, and several others were near the boat wreckage looking for the third person.

“They really put themselves out there, jumping in the water with a strong current to rescue...after being in the midst of a boat crash,” said Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley.

Sadly, the third boater didn’t survive, and was recovered a few days after the crash.

But Chief Hadley said there’s no doubt in his mind the actions of the good Samaritans prevented more deaths.

“I think we could all surmise that the mother and the child may not have made it. They did not have life preservers, obviously they were thrown from a boat in the middle of a river...”

So Wednesday, ten Marinex employees received CCPD’s Civilian Commendation for their selfless bravery and heroism. Those workers are Adrian Chartrand, Domonick Cooper, Timmy Gray, John Inman, Gregory Robinson, Frank Singleton, Jack Sowell, Bradley Tamblyn, Justin Ward and Cameron Williams.

“I just thought it was the right thing to do. I think we have to celebrate when people commit acts of kindness or heroism, or good to their fellow man. And we just felt it was the right thing to do,” said Hadley.

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