VIDEO: Sri Lankan in USA’s Nisqually River rescue

A Sri Lankan serving in the US Army has rescued a motorist whose car had been caught in the torrents of the Nisqually River.

 

 

A Corporal in the US Army, Eric Mendis from Sri Lanka had gone to the USA on a scholarship and later had obtained citizenship. His good marksmanship had earned him a place in the army.

 

He had witnessed the accident while passing by and had stepped in to rescue the driver Gerry Goit, who said he was trapped in a watery tomb.

 

Fox News has reported the story as follows:

 

SEATTLE- A car flips into a raging river, its driver trapped inside and rescuers are in a race against time to save him. The man who was saved by park rangers and bystanders spoke exclusively with Q13 FOX News about his harrowing ordeal. Gerry Goit says he was trapped in a watery tomb.

 

“I just thought about different things about my kids. I didn´t want them to have to bury their dad,” said Goit.

 

Gerry Goit’s drive home after a day of climbing at Mount Rainier became a fight for his life after he dozed off behind the wheel.

 

“I thought the trees would stop me, but, they didn’t. So, I went through the trees and went down the bank and ended up in the river upside down,” said Goit.

 

Second’s later frigid water from the Nisqually Riverbegan pouring into his Nissan Pathfinder. Gerry’s seatbelt wouldn’t budge.

 

“When I first landed there I just thought I’m very likely going to die,” said Goit.

 

Stuck upside down Gerry struggled to keep his head above water. He turned to his fait for help.

 

“And, so I started praying and I just asked God to help me, bring someone to help me,” said Goit.

 

His prayers were answered when other drivers and eventually park rangers came to Gerry’s rescue. They tied a rope to a tree and the SUV to stabilize it.

 

“The ranger told me I was a survivor, cause he said he could see me in the water just barely keeping it out of my mouth, he said you were fighting to survive,” said Goit.

 

But, what happened next took Gerry by surprise.

 

“To get to the seat belt, he pushed me underwater and I actually passed out. I was under their fighting to get back up he was just holding me down to get to the belt,” said Goit.

 

A rope was tied to Gerry and rescuers dragged him to shore. He was cold, wet, and appeared to be suffering from hypothermia.

 

“I had a dry pair of pants in a bag they put me in a sleeping bag. I knew I was cold, I was pretty confident at that point I was going to survive,” said Goit.

 

A helicopter landed in the rocky-river bed and Gerry was flown to an awaiting ambulance that took him to a Puyallup Hospital.

 

“Yeah, my faith definitely gave me the strength to go on,” said Goit.

 

It goes without saying that Gerry considers himself very lucky.

 

“And, thing is had I passed out, had I been unconscious when I hit I would have drowned,” said Goit.

 

He’s very thankful for the people who risked their lives jumping into the river to save him.

 

“Oh, most definitely they are heroes,” said Goit.

 

Besides a few bumps and bruises Gerry says he feels absolutely fine. As far as his SUV it was towed from the river and will need some work. Gerry was up at the Park training for a summit of Mount Rainier later this summer. He still hopes to do that.