Monroe County Supervisor Saves Woman in Submerged Truck
Each work morning, Monroe County’s supervisor of solid waste and recycling Mike Basham drives along Blimp Road on Cudjoe Key to check for dumped items that need to be collected. At about 7:50 Thursday morning, where the road ends at the boat ramp, he noticed an unusual site: a submerged truck about 100 feet offshore.
“At first it looked like a giant board or a big piece of lumber,” Basham said. “But as I got closer, it kept getting bigger and bigger. Then, I saw what looked like a cab of a truck. I realized there was a pickup in the water.”
Basham called the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. The dispatcher asked him if anyone was inside the vehicle. Basham said he did not know, but would check. He walked to the edge of the water and inside the truck he saw a head, which was not moving. He yelled to see if the person was alive. A woman replied: “Help me. Get me out of here.”
Basham did. He took off his shirt and his boots, and then waded through chest-deep water to the Chevrolet Canyon to help her to land. The woman, in her mid-30s and from Orlando, came to the Keys to visit friends. She told him she did not know the road ended and drove into the water at 11 p.m. She was not injured and Basham said she surprisingly was not suffering from hypothermia.
When Basham asked the woman why she had stayed in the truck all that time, despite waters rising to her chin during high tide, she said. “It was pitch black out and I don’t swim. She also was worried about snakes and sharks.”
This story seems to be missing a piece, or two.
The water was less deep (lower tide) when she left the road. Anyone I know would have walked to dry land, able to swim or not, afraid of sharks and snakes, or not.
Is it known whether she got tested for booze, Xanax, meth, spice, etc?
It would serve no purpose to check for alcohol 9 hours later. As to other drugs they too wear off. If she had been drinking then just maybe figured being wet for a few hours beats the shit out of a DUI. Being she is from Orlando chances are high she did not know when high or low tide was so bit risky to jump out of the truck. Question I have is was the end of the road clearly marked and have a STOP SIGN ? Believe it is a requirement from DOT. Could be a lawsuit out of this if not marked properly. Roads should not simply end and go into water.
I would think she simply was lost and at 11 pm too dark to make a wise choice. 100 feet is a long distance even if you are a swimmer. Let’s just say she was dam lucky to survive.
Did notice few days ago that part of the fence at the south end of Duval seems to been knocked down. No idea if hit or what.
So let’s not judge this lady. She might be like me and have poor night vision. Or simply missed a sign saying END