Jakob Thompson

Jakob Thompson saved a woman from drowning, Ocean Ridge, Florida, November 30, 2023. In the afternoon, the 35-year-old woman, who had entered the Boynton Inlet, was struggling to swim about 60 feet from the near seawall as a strong, outgoing current was carrying her toward the inlet’s opening to the Atlantic Ocean. Having earlier seen others at the seawall unsuccessfully trying to pull the woman out of the water, Jakob, 17, high school student, drove on a bridge crossing the inlet to the nearby parking lot. As he exited his truck and saw that the woman had floated toward the middle of the inlet, Jakob removed his shirt, took a running jump from the seawall, and landed feet-first in the water. Jakob then swam about 90 feet to the woman, intercepting her and grasping her around the chest. She was breathing heavily and nearly exhausted. Jakob then towed the woman back to the same seawall – more than 200 feet from where he jumped into the water – and held her to the wall until two men responded to pull her to safety atop the wall. Jakob then climbed out under his own power. After first-responders assessed the woman, they took her to a hospital. Jakob had minor cuts to his hands and feet from the barnacles covering the seawall.