Shane Drossard has been homeless for eight years.
He has made his home for the last four months, a tent, under the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis.
Last Tuesday, around 2:00 am, Shane heard a very loud splash...and then what he thought was a voice. He left his tent, and ran to the river’s edge.
“I was woken up by a huge splash, like something really hard hitting the water.”
It was pitch black, but he heard a woman ...a 35-year-old who jumped off the bridge to commit suicide.. in the process of drowning, as she was being swept down the river.
“I’m screaming, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming, help’s coming.”
He lowered himself into the water holding onto the concrete embankment and the woman grabbed his leg and arm. He held her arm with one hand and the wall with his other.
She told him she was scared of living anymore.
So Shane told her what everyone needs to hear...That she had a whole life to live, that she was beautiful, that she had a purpose to serve, that he was there for her and that he would never, ever let her go.
Let that sink in.
He didn’t have the strength to lift her and himself up the slippery wall, so he just hung on.
And shouted for help.
“She says finally, ‘I’m going to go, I didn’t want to be here anymore anyway. I’m trying to hold onto her against the current, and she’s trying to give up.”
And she let go of him and the current took her.
So, Shane did what all heroic persons do.
He jumped in.
He swam to her and kept her head, and his own, above water….as the fast moving current took them down the river.
Thankfully at this point, someone walking across the bridge saw and heard enough to call emergency personnel...who found them holding onto a piling, down river.
The woman was taken to the hospital. The Fire Chief wanted to find shelter for Shane for the night, but he wanted to return to his girlfriend and dog in the tent under the bridge.
When asked about the experience, this humble man said,
“I don’t know, I heard a voice and just wanted to, you know, to save, wanted to do something good for somebody.”
“I’ve been choked up over it.”
Here is Shane’s perspective.
In the days following the rescue, the woman’s parents met Shane, and told him, with tears in their eyes, what only a parent can tell a man who saved the life of their child.
And that angels come in many forms.
Saturday, Aug 4, 2018 · 11:47:51 PM +00:00 · Tevye
How precarious and fragile life is.
And how heroes often perish saving others.
Downthread, community member MichiganGirl shared the sadness of just losing her cousin, Lee Dawn Mann, to drowning whilst saving the lives of three children.
May God hold her and keep her.
And i know how this community will celebrate and mourn the goodness and courage in our brothers and sisters, and the sacrifices they make for others.
Shane is still here...whilst Lee is not.
I will now perform kaddish.