Good Samaritan Credited with Saving Paddleboarder`s Life in Georgia

April 14—A man fishing for flounder near the Shalimar Bridge on Saturday night may have played a critical role in saving the victim of a tragic boating accident.

Terry Kline, a battalion chief with the Ocean City-Wright Fire District, said the man and his wife, whose names he did not get, had picked up the badly injured 28-year-old Georgia woman after she was hit by a boat and brought her to shore.

"Without him, that girl might not have made it," Kline said. "He definitely needs a pat on the back."

The victim of the boating accident was identified Tuesday as Kristy Marie Wise.

Wise lost a leg from the knee down as a result of being struck by a propeller blade, but is listed in good condition at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission clarified that Wise had been paddle boarding with a male, not a female friend when the accident happened.

Kline said the man Wise was with may have contributed to saving her life by getting a tourniquet around her badly lacerated leg. He said paramedics praised the work that helped stem profuse bleeding.

The accident happened about 10:30 p.m. Saturday as Wise and her friend were paddle boarding on the southeast side of the bridge in Garnier Bayou, according to Bekah Nelson with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

A boat, possibly a pontoon boat, came up behind the two "at full throttle," according to Kline. It was traveling in the same direction as the paddle boarders, Nelson confirmed.

The paddle boarders shined a light to alert the boat of their presence, then jumped into the water when they saw their efforts were in vain,, Kline said.

Wise was in the water when the boat propeller caught her leg.

Kline said the couple fishing for flounder recalled seeing the couple paddle boarding near the bridge and remembered expressing concern about their location.

Nelson said the FWC is still "actively searching for the boat responsible for the injuries" inflicted upon Wise.

"There is a chance that the vessel was unaware that it hit (her), so any boats that were in the area at the time of the accident could provide beneficial information," she said.

Kline said Wise was taken to the hospital in Pensacola by ambulance, not helicopter. Though a landing zone was set up at a Shalimar ball field, helicopter units contacted to carry the victim could not fly due to weather, he said.

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