GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The improbable, if not inconceivable, chain of events started after nobody saw the small Sea-Doo Switch Pontoon Boat flip in the channel of Black Creek and the St. Johns River, 120 yards from the Black Creek Marina on Sunday, Aug. 25.

Within seconds, three things happened:

Joseph Bianco was sitting at the bait shop and heard screaming. He quickly called 911.

Clay County Fire Rescue Lt. Thomas Gill was working overtime at another station and was at the marina entrance, returning from another call when the call was sent.

And, CCFR Lt. Joe Hutchins was off duty and driving home from church with his daughter. They crossed the Black Creek bridge on U.S. Highway 17 when Gill pulled into the marina parking lot. Instinctively, Hutchins followed.

Gill and Hutchins ran to the end of the dock and saw a father and son in a boat who were about to go shrimping. The CCFR lieutenants asked them to take them to the scene. Bianco, Dwight McVey and Jay Oppenborn were trying to help three victims get on top of the capsized boat. In broken English, a man yelled his daughter was trapped underneath.

McVey unsuccessfully tried to dive under the boat to find the 15-month-old. The men said seconds seemed like several minutes. Soon, minutes seemed like a hopeless eternity.

“We did all we could do, so we started praying,” Bianco said.

That’s when Gill and Hutchins arrived.

Bianco continued, “We did a lot of praying … and God sent us him (Gill).”

‘Sometimes, it ain’t pretty. Sometimes, it ain’t by the book’

“I didn’t even think about it,” Gill said. “I took the stuff out of my pockets and got in the water. I was acting on instincts and adrenaline.”

Hutchins said Gill disappeared in the black, brackish water. After nearly three minutes without coming up for air, Hutchins contemplated going in after him, although it would violate the rescue policy of “one in, one on the boat.” Besides, he kept two men and a woman from returning to the water to look for the girl.

“Joe had to keep those people, the other adults, calm and make sure they weren’t reaching out and grabbing him,” Battalion Chief Billy Futch Jr. said. “They were already exhausted from looking for her. You had three adults, and they wanted to be off that boat and be with that kid.

“There’s a lot of moving parts there. No matter what the call is, we’re going to figure out a way to do it and get it done. Sometimes it ain’t pretty. Sometimes, it ain’t by the book. But this is a fluid profession, without a lack of better words.”

Hutchins knew they would compound the problems for his fire rescue brother, but his concerns had turned to fear.

On shore, the call “fireman down” was sent agency-wide.

Suddenly, the little girl’s lifeless body appeared above the surface of Black Creek. Gill was summoning the last bit of life and energy to push her above the surface. Hutchins grabbed her. Gill desperately grabbed the side of the boat, coughing up water and fighting to maintain enough strength and consciousness to not slip back into the murky depths.

“I immediately started doing CPR on the girl. I’m sure it had to be something the father and son didn’t expect to see. I wish we knew who they were. We’d like to reach out to them, thank them, and see if they’re all right,” Hutchins said.

“The little girl was in full cardiac arrest.”

McVey, Oppenborn and Bianco said the girl was underwater for as long as 10 minutes. That didn’t keep Gill and Hutchins from reacting.

“I tried opening my eyes a couple of times, but it stung too much,” Gill said. “You couldn’t see anything anyway. I kept reaching, but I couldn’t feel anything. I knew the adults weren’t wearing PFDs (personal floatation devices), but the baby was.

“I was trying to look for a better area to find her. The complete boat is at the water level, so there are no air pockets. She’s just trapped underneath.

“I kept reaching, and I finally felt a leg. I got her and pushed her to the surface. I don’t know how long I was under; I don’t know how much longer I could have lasted. But I wasn’t coming up back up without her.”

Gill struggled to get back on board. His skin was colorless; his breathing was labored with brownish bubbles and water oozing from his nose.

“The only color he had was his tattoos,” Futch said.

Battalion Chief: Rescue highlights versatility of CCFR members

On the ride to the hospital, Hutchins said the girl regained her pulse and blood pressure.

The firefighters said their relationship with a patient ends when they leave the emergency room. While there are no priorities in saving lives, it’s natural to be more aware of the outcome of a younger patient, especially a baby.

“They took me to the hospital because I took in a lot of water,” Gill said. “My only concern was the child. I had no concern for myself at all,” Gill said. “As far as that, I didn’t care. I was born here, so that wasn’t the first time I drank some water from the St. Johns.”

Before he left the hospital, Gill went to the pediatric intensive care to check on the girl. She was about to be transferred to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, but he was relieved to know she was alive.

Hutchins said the last time he checked, the girl remained in critical but stable condition. He will also make sure there are no long-term problems for Gill.

“Once he evacuated, all that helped,” he said. “I’m starting to think down the line, what bacteria did he ingest, pneumonia and all these other things?”

Futch said the rescue highlights the versatility of the members of CCFR. Gill doesn’t do water rescues; Hutchins wasn’t on duty. It was as if, by fate, they were at the exact spot where they were needed most, and they responded professionally and instinctively to save a life.

“There are a lot of decisions going on in seconds – probably less than that,” Futch said. “You know, they got back and they got those people back.

“I’ve been doing this 25 years, and we call them the ‘pucker’ factors. That was definitely No. 1 in 25 years.”