Thomas R. Gustin helped to save a man from drowning, Sag Harbor, New York, October 15, 2003. A 62-year-old man jumped from a bridge into Sag Harbor Bay in a suicide attempt and was carried away from the bridge by a strong tidal current. Having witnessed him jump, Gustin, 54, massage therapist, ran to the waterline from a parking lot at the end of the bridge. He saw the man struggling against the current in an apparent attempt to return to the bridge. Gustin removed his coat and shoes, entered the cold water, and swam about 150 feet to the man. He attempted to get him to swim out of the current and toward shore, but the man ignored him. After Gustin admonished and tugged at him, the man started to swim to shore with Gustin. A police officer who had arrived entered the water and took the man the remaining distance, Gustin leaving the bay on his own. The man required hospital treatment, and Gustin aggravated an existing knee injury, which took a year to heal.
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