Early Monday evening, members of Abingdon Volunteer Fire and Rescue and York County’s Department of Fire and Life Safety combined on a rescue call in the York River.
At approximately 6:10 p.m., emergency responders from the two organizations were dispatched to the Gloucester Point area of the river following a report of a child in the water, clinging to the Coleman Bridge and being swept upriver by the incoming tide.
While units were en route, updates indicated multiple individuals may have been in the water. Upon arrival at Gloucester Point, a research vessel from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science—operated by a faculty member and accompanied by an AVFR member—located and rescued two individuals: an adult female and a Good Samaritan who had jumped in to assist her. Both had been carried upriver by the strong tidal current.
As fire department marine units arrived in the area, the VIMS vessel returned to Gloucester Point and transferred the rescued individuals to awaiting EMS pers...