Bird watcher stumbles upon man drowning, ends up saving his life

Being in the right place at the right time sometimes works out. That's what happened to one bird watcher who found a man unexpectedly in need of life-saving care.

For John Rolf, nature is his happy place. He loves biking, hiking, and even mountain climbing, but it was bird watching that took Rolf to Cuyahoga Valley National Park Friday, near Ira Road, searching for cedar wax wing birds. They are distinct with their red-tipped wings; wax wings like to hang in low brush areas.

“You get the small songbirds are down there and so I make it a habit to walk there and to see the sunsets every night,” Rolf said.

Rolf, with his binoculars, made his way through the trail scanning, but it wasn't a bird that caught his eye.

“I see a man with his arms wrapped around the log in the water trying to sweep him off of that log and down the river,” Rolf said.

Rolf said he was ready to jump in and help.

“Quickly dropped the camera, binoculars, kept the phone because I thought maybe 911 wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Rolf added.

Rolf stayed on the phone with 911 while trying to keep the man calm.

“Let go of the fishing pole; don't worry about it,” Rolf said to the man in the water while on the phone with a 911 operator.

“Tell him to let go of the fishing pole, keep your legs wrapped tight,” responded the 911 operator.

Ten minutes later, help arrived.

“He didn’t have much longer left on him,” said Lt. Scott Cline with the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department. “He told us how exhausted he was.”

Rolf said if it weren’t for a friend pushing back evening plans, he would have never stumbled upon what he did.

“I did ask him why he wouldn't let go of the fishing pole,” said Rolf. “He said it’s my grandsons. I said, I get it you didn’t want to lose your grandson’s fishing pole.”

Rolf snapped a photo to remember the moment with the fishing pole still in the man's hand. And don’t worry, Rolf found a cedar wax wing after it all and managed to snap a shot.

“Always, I never come back without a picture of a bird,” Rolf added.

Firefighters recommend avoiding getting into fast-moving water because you don’t know how deep or shallow it is. Luckily for this story, the outcome was good, but when it comes to mother nature, anything is possible.

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