SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. (WPVI) — A Jersey shore man is being called a hero after rescuing a woman and her dogs when their kayak overturned during Thursday’s storm.
The winds roared at the Jersey shore on Thursday around 7:00 p.m. as a storm passed through.
“It went from 10 mph to about 40 in a second,” said Brennan Bollard.
He typically spends his days on the water, operating his business, Sea Isle Parasail, in Sea Isle City.
But on Thursday, he jumped into action when a couple in a kayak got into trouble at 86th and the bay.
“We knew they were out there, but then right when they flipped, that’s when I just ran to the boat,” he said.
The woman was swept into the bay along with two dogs.
Bollard jumped into his small personal boat and sped towards them, first pulling out one dog, then the other.
The rescue was caught on video.
Bollard says the woman was panicked.
“She was definitely out of breath. It’s starting to take water to the face,” he said.
After a few moments, she was in the boat too.
The man and the kayak had already ended up at one of the nearby docks.
Friends who watched it all said it was a scary situation, relieved that Bollard acted quickly.
“We were on the deck like, ‘Oh my gosh, we gotta do something,'” said Alex Clarke, who watched the rescue.
“Next thing you know, we saw Brennan sprinting down the dock, and within 30 seconds he was full throttle grabbing them,” said Casey Clarke. “As soon as we saw Brennan, we were like, ‘They’ll be fine. They’re in good hands.'”
According to Bollard and bystanders, the couple left the scene pretty quickly and refused medical treatment.
He says the fact that the woman and both dogs had life jackets on saved their lives.
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