A Good Samaritan Saves a Woman from the Potomac River – NBC Washington, D.C. (44)

A good Samaritan saved a woman’s life when he rescued her from the Potomac River on Friday afternoon, March 3.

Jelani Clayton said she was driving when she stopped on Ohio Drive SW south of the Lincoln Memorial just before 7 p.m. to enjoy the view rather than wait in frustrating traffic.

“By the way, I love the view,” Clayton recounted. “That’s why I came here, because if I see a cityscape over there – I think it’s beautiful.”

He said he saw something strange in the water.

“I didn’t realize it was a person,” Clayton said. “I thought it was an animal or garbage, and when I got close, the person yelled.”

It was a woman wearing a jacket buttoned over her face and a backpack.

“He was conscious, but barely,” Clayton said. “narrow”.

Without thinking twice, he took action—pulled the woman out of the river and called 911.

The woman was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.

“She had severe hypothermia, she could easily have drowned within minutes, and we would have lost her had it not been for her efforts,” said Vito Magiolo of the capital’s fire and emergency team.

It is not clear how this happened in the water.

“I just hope this person gets help,” Clayton said. “I hope they are better.”

He said he hopes this will be a reminder to everyone about giving a helping hand to those in need.

“The humanity is still there. It would have been easy for me to leave,” Clayton said. “Nobody was here. Nobody was around. I could have left, but the humanity in me said this is someone in need, this is someone who needs help.”