LYNN, MASS. (WHDH) - A 21-year-old woman is being hailed as a hero after she jumped into the water to save an elderly man from drowning.
Naica Luca was fishing with her friends on the pier near General Edwards Bridge in Lynn Wednesday afternoon when she saw a man fall through a hole and into the waters below.
“I feel like it is wrong to sit and watch bad things happen when you know you could be the one person to prevent it from going any further,” Luca said.
Luca said she and her friends were aware of the hole and frequently reminded each other to steer clear.
“It just so happened that their line was tugging so the elderly man and his son went to go check it out and he just so happened to take the wrong step.”
Luca’s boyfriend Irwin, who also does not know how to swim, jumped into the ocean first and was able to drag the man under the dock.
“From there, I swam and grabbed both of them because at that point Irwin was like, ‘I can’t swim so what am I doing in the water,'” she recalled.
Following the fall, a Department of Conservation and Recreation employee patched several holes and weak spots in the pier in an attempt to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
Luca said the man was released from Massachusetts General Hospital and is feeling much better after his harrowing experience.
“He has a couple stitches in his lip, ankle hurts, but, other than that he’s great,” she said. “He is trying to walk like it is nothing.”
The 21-year-old wants people to know that they do not have to go so far to make a difference in someone’s life.
“I just hope people know that even helping someone carry their groceries to the car is OK.”
Going forward, Luca said she hopes this story inspires people to learn how to swim.
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