Palm Coast, FL – The second-in-command at the Palm Coast Fire Department is hailed as a hero after he jumped into a swimming pool to rescue an elderly man in distress.
PCFD Deputy Fire Chief Gerard “Jerry” Forte says he was the first responder closest to the scene at a home in Palm Coast’s W section when the call for help came just before 1 PM Wednesday.
“I was returning to the station from making rounds and, on the way back, heard a call for a patient inside of a pool that was having problems,” Forte noted. “[I] found out from dispatch what it was and they said that it was an elderly man underwater.”
By the time he arrived on scene at the Whispering Pine Drive home around 10 minutes later, Forte discovered that the 71-year-old man – who lived in the home with his wife – had apparently fallen into the pool and his wife was doing all she could to keep him from drowning.
“The actual true hero is his wife,” Forte said. “[She] was really struggling, having a hard time holding him, but she was holding him up above water.”
Forte got into the pool and managed to pull the man out of the deep end and onto the pool deck by the time a crew from PCFD’s Station 25 arrived.
“He was not responsive but he was breathing on his own, which is a good sign,” Forte stated. “He went off to the hospital for further medical treatment.”
The man – who recently went to a neurologist due to concerns that he may suffer from dementia – is expected to recover, according to Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle.
“Kudos go to out to Chief Forte,” Beadle added.
Forte has been with PCFD since 1999 and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Fire Chief in 2009.
The incident report from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office did not specify the man’s name or age or his wife’s.
Gerard “Jerry” Forte (photo courtesy PCFD)
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