OCEAN CITY – A happy hour cruise turned into a life-saving mission this week after a boat operator, his passengers and nearby witnesses saved a man in a north-end canal.
At around 5:45 p.m. on Monday, Stephen Butz – boat operator and co-owner of the water taxi service OC Bay Hopper – was returning two passengers to the company’s headquarters at the end of the 118th Street canal when they witnessed a young man in the water.
“It was late Monday afternoon and I was finishing a happy hour cruise with two people on board,” he said. “I saw a kid in the water and two girls on the pier trying to coax him out. He wasn’t wanting to get out.”
After the two girls declined his offers of help, Butz said he continued his journey back to the company’s 118th Street kiosk.
“I went another 20 feet, but something just didn’t feel right,” he said. “I went back, and by the time I had gotten back one of the girls was in the water with the guy. As soon as I saw that one of the girls was no longer on the pier but in the water, everything clicked, and I knew I should stay there until everything got resolved.”
North-end resident Joe Logan said he had witnessed the events of the rescue unfold.
“I was right across the canal from where it happened,” he said. “My upstairs neighbor even ended up jumping into the water to help. The captain was a hero. If he didn’t stop that kid would have been dead.”
Butz said the young man was acting strangely, flailing and refusing to get out of the water. With the help of his two passengers, as well as nearby residents who had witnessed the commotion, Butz said the man was eventually pulled aboard.
“At a certain point I had my arms locked around his arms and chest to not let him go under,” he said. “But it was not a single person’s effort … We had people in the water and on the boat struggling to get this kid onto the boat.”
Once aboard the vessel, Butz said they remained near the pier until authorities arrived on the scene.
“One of my passengers was a nurse and was good at calming him down …,” he said. “He had actually calmed down enough that he got himself onto the pier when authorities arrived.”
Logan said he had never witnessed such a scene before this week. He credited Butz, the boat passengers and nearby witnesses for saving the man’s life.
“The swimmer is actually lucky there were five or more people there to help him …,” he said. “I’ve never seen a guy almost drown before.”
Butz said the man was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. He noted that no one had left until first responders arrived.
“Until authorities showed up on the scene, none of us left,” he said. “It was really a team effort, and I couldn’t have gotten this kid out of the water without these people … It actually touched me that these people rallied like this.”
