Eyewitnesses rescue man from drowning in East River
MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Eyewitnesses turned into rescuers when a man struggled to stay afloat in the East River.
A fisherman says he spotted a man in the river crying for help near Pier 17 Monday afternoon.
He says that's when two other men dove into the water and swam out to reach the man in distress.
The two pulled the man back to the pier where they got a life preserver around his neck.
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The fisherman used a rope to help lift the man back onto dry land.
"Somebody was floating, and I was fishing, doing what I love to do -- he looked up and said 'help,' two college kids jumped in and got him, we wrapped him up on the rope, twisted it, put a knot on it, held his head above water and saved his life," fisherman Elliot Rodriguez said.
The man who was rescued was immediately rushed to the hospital.
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No word on his condition or how he got in the water.
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