Deputies rescue homeless man stuck in Bradenton creek for 2 days

Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published:
A homeless man who was trying to bathe in a Bradenton creek fell and was stuck there for two days before being rescued. (Credit: Bodycam footage from MCSO)

A homeless man who was trying to bathe in a Bradenton creek fell and was stuck there for two days before being rescued.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that the man aggravated an old injury when he fell and was unable to get up. He was found partially clothed in about two feet of water under a railroad bridge. He said he had been yelling for help but no one had responded.

The rescue happened Nov. 18, but MCSO on Wednesday released details and bodycam footage of the rescue, which began when a person heard someone yelling for help.

The area where the man was stuck is remote, so medics couldn’t reach him with a stretcher. Deputies eventually carried the man out on a blanket, about 250 yards down the railroad tracks, before he was placed into a wheelchair.

The sheriff’s office says the man’s extremities were waterlogged to the point that his skin was coming off, and he was suffering from the early stages of hypothermia. His current condition has not been released.

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