Split-second decisions, cold water against your skin and struggling to save yourself and another against river currents; this is the scene Tuesday, Jan. 8, for Doug Bacon, graduate student in masters integrated design and construction.
Bacon rescued an Opelika native, Priscilla Woods, from drowning in the Alabama River after she jumped from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma.
Bacon was on his way back to Auburn University when he noticed a woman standing on the outside of a guardrail.
"I was driving and I was kind of watching the road since the traffic had slowed down," Bacon said. "I was looking back and forth from her and the road and when I looked back and I saw that she had jumped, so I knew either way that she had either fallen or jumped."
It only took seconds for Bacon to make the decision that he would be the one to save Woods.
"I think for a split second I was like 'Well you know maybe some other people will go and help her,' but another part of me was like 'I better go down there and help her,'" Bacon said.
Bacon drove to a nearby park that he was familiar with since he had driven through Selma in the past.
Bacon ran two blocks to the edge of the park up until the park dropped down to the river said Lt. Johnny King, commander of criminal and narcotic investigation for Selma Police Department.
Bacon then handed his cellphone and wallet to a man willing to help by the water's edge.
"And I just said 'Do you see her? Do you see her?' and then she just popped up and she was struggling," Bacon said. "It was not a graceful dive [into the river]; it was more of a stumble."
Although the water may have looked freezing, Bacon assured everyone that the water was no more than chilly.
"I wasn't really thinking if the water was cold or not," Bacon said.
Bacon swam 35-45 feet out in the river to save Woods.
"I swam out and got to her and she was kind of in shock," Bacon said. "I think she was probably just going through a lot. I got to her and said 'Come here, it's going to be OK.' She was willing to get some help and wasn't fighting it at all."
Bacon struggled with the current as Woods and him swam to shore.
"I was kind of out of energy and going under water, so I was kind of freaking out. So I would throw her arm off of me just so I could get a breath," Bacon said.
Soon after Bacon had jumped in the water a fishermen had emerged from the woods to come help.
"It was too steep to come down to the river from upstream, so the fisherman climbed way up the slope and came the way I did and helped me pull her out of the water the rest of the way," Bacon said.
The police arrived soon after Woods was pulled from the water to shore.
"She wouldn't have survived because it's a long fall," King said. "I know several people who have jumped and she was the only person that survived. [Bacon] jumped in there in that cold water and swam to her and pulled her as much as he could."
Bacon's family was both shocked and surprised when they heard how Doug's afternoon went.
"[My mom] was just happy I was OK and she was really proud of me," Bacon said.
Woods went to Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery, but is now home with her family.
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