CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) — Chesapeake Firefighters were called to the Deep Creek marsh around 7:30 a.m. because a man had become trapped.
Joe Whitley was stuck in traffic because the Gilmerton Bridge was opening when he looked out his window and thought he saw something in the water.
"Out of my peripheral vision to the right I seen some movement out of the swamp. I kind of dismissed it as trash or turtles or something," said Whitley.
When Whitley looked back, he realized there was a human face in the water. He he got out of his car, and started calling 911. There was a man floating in the marsh.
"You could tell he had been there for some time. All the cuts and bruising and bug bites and the way his skin looked like a zombie almost. His eyes opened up and it startled me at first, and I said 'sir are you okay,' and he said, 'no I'm not okay, I've been in the water for two weeks,'" said Whitley.
When firefighters arrived at the marsh, located at S. Military Highway and Shell Road, they saw a man submerged chest-deep, yelling for help.
After evaluation by medics, it was evident that the man had been in the water for some time, but the exact amount is still unknown.
Firefighters from Stations 9 and 2 as well as members of the Technical Rescue Team successfully removed the man from the marsh and sent him to the hospital for further evaluation.
The extent of the injuries is unknown.
