Jordan B. Kurtzer

Jordan B. Kurtzer helped save a man from drowning, Lincoln, Nebraska, September 3, 2022. The man, 49, remained in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck after the vehicle left the road and entered a pond in a residential area, floating in water at least 7 feet deep about 15 feet from the near bank. Kurtzer, 35, sheet metal worker, saw the truck sinking. Kurtzer parked his vehicle, ran down the bank, and entered the water. He reached the partially submerged vehicle. Figuring the doors were locked, Kurtzer jumped into the truck’s bed and searched for a tool to break out the rear windshield. Another motorist responded and provided a tire iron, which Kurtzer used to break out the windshield glass. Kurtzer then leaned inside through the windshield opening, reached the rear, passenger-side door, and unlocked it. Kurtzer withdrew, climbed down the truck to the water, and though the sinking vehicle was filling with water, he fully re-entered it through the rear-door opening. Kurtzer reached forward, unlatched the man’s seat belt, and reclined the driver’s seat back. Kurtzer then grasped the man’s arm and pulled him to the rear cab. About then, Kurtzer found two child-sized life jackets floating in the rear cab. He and the motorist placed the life jackets around the man’s arms. Kurtzer, with the other motorist, towed the man a few feet from the vehicle. A police sergeant responded and for a short time assisted in floating the man closer to the bank. Kurtzer towed the man to the bank and waited for paramedics to arrive. The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital to be monitored and then was released. He recovered. Kurtzer was not injured.