Cayce Department of Public Safety and others make water rescue, in the right place at the right time

Cayce, SC (Paul Kirby) – Personnel from the Cayce Department of Public Safety and other departments were in the right place at the right time Wednesday evening and were able to snatch a struggling swimmer from near disaster. This all happened while other members of their department were coordinating an attempt to find a missing swimmer in a nearby part of the Congaree River.

While a number of their personnel and others from the Cayce Department of Public Safety, the City of Columbia FD, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, and the SC Department of Public Safety were searching nearby for a missing swimmer in the area close to the lock, someone spotted another swimmer struggling in the waters of the river. That swimmer was reported to be trying to swim against the current in the lock at the dam below the railroad and the Blossom Street bridges.

A boat with rescuers was dispatched and quickly snatched the distressed swimmer up, plucking him from the water just in time. Struggling against the swift water of the locks could have easily ended with a second drowning.

Personnel are still on the scene searching for the original missing person who was last seen struggling before going under for good earlier Wednesday evening.