March 2009

Rescue

On Feb. 19, 2008 I was on my way home from a bee keeping class that I was taking. I had stopped in the parking lot to talk for a few minutes, which put me a little behind my normal time frame. When I got on the highway I noticed that a car had hit a guard rail behind me, so I turned around to check on them. It was an older couple; they were ok and had already called for some help, so left. By this time I am about 30 min behind my normal schedule, but that was ok as I wasn’t in a real hurry.

About 10 min down the road I looked over and just happen to notice the back hatch of a vehicle sticking up out of a small lake, so I slammed on my brakes and snatched my truck around on the highway and got over to the side of the lake. I jumped out and went looking on the banks to see if anybody was there. A woman, that was behind me on the highway, pulled over too when she saw me hit the brakes. About that time I heard a scream from the water; there was a woman trapped in the vehicle and it was sinking. I told the women on the highway to call 911, and I dialed it on my phone too and dropped it, then dove into the water. I swam over to the SUV with a 4D mag light in my hand; I beat on the window until the light came out of my hand. Thank God I had my Leatherman Surge on my side. I have carried a Leatherman since I was about 14 and I am 28 now. I reached down and grabbed my Leatherman from my side and hit the window about twice. It shattered and I knocked the rest of the glass out of the window and pulled her out. We swam to the bank; she turned out to be a 17 year old high school senior and I hate to think what might have happened if I had not had my Leatherman on my side.

Thank you for making a great tool. I carry one every day and always will.

Brandon H.
Sylacauga, AL