A diver who was seriously injured after he got dangerously close to a boat off Fort Lauderdale Beach came face to face with the first responders who helped save his life.
7News cameras rolled as diver David Labrador stunned first responders with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, Tuesday afternoon.
“I can’t believe you’re walking,” said FLFR Capt. Kyle Duty. “I’m not a gambling man, but I would have put all the money on you were going to be wheeled up here today, so the fact that you’re walking is pretty extraordinary.”
But Labrador walked up to the crew who saved his leg — and his life.
“That’s what saved my life, was how quick everybody was able to respond and take care of what happened to me,” he said.
The nautical nightmare unfolded March 1st when Labrador nearly lost his life while spearfishing near the 3500 block of Northeast 21st Street.
“I look to my left, and I see a boat, and quickly I dove back down, and it clipped by left leg,” said Labrador.
The boat’s propeller slashed the back of Labrador’s left thigh, leaving a gash so deep that first responders said they could nearly see his bone.
The driver of that boat kept on going, as Labrador’s friends drove the man to shore for help.
That’s where good Samaritans came to his rescue, rendering aid until FLFR crews arrived less than 10 minutes later.
“If [the injury] was in front, I don’t think we’d be sitting here talking with him, but the fact that he is, that we are able to sit here and talk with him, and he is able to walk over to us, that just speaks to our training as well,” said FLFR Firefighter Charles Stevenson.
“They went to the hospital and asked for me, so as soon as I heard that, I was thinking like, ‘Wow, these people don’t see it just like their job, they see it as they actually care for their community and the people that get hurt, so I felt like I had to come out here and thank them for everything they do,” said Labrador.
As Labrador stood alongside those responsible for saving his life. he said the boat crash won’t stop him from doing what he loves.
“I think I’ll be out there again, just not anytime soon,” he said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continue their search for the driver of the boat involved.
Labrador said he chooses to believe the driver who struck him never saw him that day.