John Morse A Hero CNN Reports!
2010 Flood - Great Acts of Heroism
During the weekend of May 1st, 2010, Nashville experienced an unprecedented rainfall event that as of this writing, left 27 counties designated federal disaster areas. During the weekend, more that 13 inches of rain fell on middle Tennessee, completely overwhelming the population and state agencies.
As the waters are slowly subsiding, incredible acts of heroism are beginning to emerge involving members of our own local swim community.
The photos above are of Neelyann Sheucraft and her daughter Lowell Ann being helped from canoes after being rescued from their home by NAC head swim coach, John Morse. Sheucraft had called for help from her attic after waters had risen too quickly for them to escape. Risking his own life, John Morse swam to their rescue after arriving to find no other way in. Click here to read more from CNN news who covered the story.
Friday, April 30th, marked the opening day for the first annual All American NIKE LC Spring Classic, but by 7:30am Sunday, flooding at the Sportsplex forced the cancellation of the meet. At about the same time a woman became trapped in her car behind the Sportsplex in 3-4 foot floodwaters. Initial attempts were made by Sportsplex facility manager Rick Taylor to rescue the woman, but he could not safely reach her on foot or with his truck.
Steve Charles, a member of the Middle Tennessee ARES group, called for help from TEMA Rescue, but after waiting more than 30 minutes for rescue to arrive, it became clear that something else needed to be done. Within that time period, TEMA had received over 160 calls for water rescue and they were coming in from all over Nashville and the surrounding areas, clearly overwhelming mid-state rescue teams.
Several NAC swimmers, including Parker Camp and Dakota Hodgson, who are certified lifeguards made a valiant attempt to enter the waters to help the woman, but were called back upon advice from TEMA due to the number of inherent floodwater dangers, i.e. electrocution, drainage currents, etc. Cy Fenton (Excel Aquatics) and Walt Goss (NAC) - both Scout leaders - took initiative using a canoe from the Sportsplex to safely rescue the woman from her car.
It is reported that NAC Head Age-Group Coach Bryan Welter, who lost his home and most personal belongings in the flood, also rescued friends and neighbors giving no attention to his own personal safety.
These are just a few of the amazing stories beginning to emerge from this disaster, and we can all be thankful that we belong to such a selfless community of heroes!
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