HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLA - Four deputies rescued two kayakers from the water.
The two teenagers were on the water near the Bay Bayou RV Resort in Hillsborough County. Nathan Poinsette said it was a family vacation.
He and his friend took two kayaks on the water, Saturday night.
“It was my first time even kayaking and I crashed within two minutes,” Poinsette said.
His boat flipped over.
“When passing under the bridge, the tip of my kayak hit one of the support beams,” he said.
“Probably like 3 or 4 birds flew toward me and that caused me to jump back a little,” he continued.
Poinsette’s friend called for help.
“The current was probably going 4 or 5 miles per hour and then I was trying to hold onto the kayak at the time. It was just very difficult to like switch directions,” Poinsette said.
Four Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies responded.
“You’re trying to play it through your head of what you’re going to do (and) how you’re going to respond to it,” Deputy Daniel Henry said.
Because the deputies work together every day, they knew exactly what to do.
“We didn’t have to talk. Everybody just jumped into action (and) did their job,” Deputy Chris Dirmitt said.
The deputies tied two tow ropes together that are used for rescues. Every deputy has one in their car, but this is the first time these men have used them. They didn’t wait for the dive team to respond. While the teens were wearing life jackets, they didn’t wait.
They pulled the teens to shore. The second teen never feel out of his kayak.
“I just wanted to thank them for a good job they did,” Poinsette said.
Deputies said this is a reminder for people to wear life jackets when they go out on the water.
“If the kayakers weren’t wearing a life vest in this situation, it could have ended, you know, a lot worse than it did,” Corporal Orlys Oquendo said.
