Man risks own life saving woman trying to end hers

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - On a typical day Brandon Crane works on the docks for the Freedom Boat Club in Clearwater.  On Tuesday morning however, he went above and beyond the call of duty.

"The loudest splash you'll ever hear; I can't even describe it," he said.

A 64-year-old woman had jumped 75 feet from the top of the Memorial Causeway Bridge in an apparent suicide attempt.

"In high school, I was on the swim team so I'd had some training on how to save people in the water. It was all instinct," he said.

He says they were about 50 feet away from shore when she started to wake up and began fighting.

"I was trying to calm her down.  I said, 'I don't know who's in your life but here's five people trying to save yours. That should mean something, hopefully.'"

Badly bruised from head to toe, the woman was flown to the hospital.  She's in serious condition.

For his quick action, Crane is being called a hero.

"I think it was as a situation where he was in the right place at the right time," said Clearwater police spokesperson Rob Shaw.

"I feel good about what I did and that's all I think about it. If people want to call me a hero that's cool," Crane added.

By mid-afternoon, Crane was back in his usual role as dock master but he says he won't forget the woman whose life was in his hands.  It is a life he hopes he changed.