Sometimes taking action can make a difference.
For example, on a recent weekend day Billy Sanford, a resident of Piankatank Shores subdivision in Hartfield, looked out into the mist rising over the Piankatank River and saw an odd shape in the river. When a couple of jet skis stopped by it, Sanford decided to swim out to see what was happening. The object of curiosity was a huge mostly submerged log bobbing just at the surface.
Boaters, like Sanford, know how hard it is to see a dark object in the water, and how much damage can be done when hit by a motor boat moving at speed.
Days following storms are especially precarious, because trees and large branches can be washed into the water when river banks collapse.
“The log was about 15 feet long and two feet around,” said Rob Hardman, Sanford’s neighbor.
The plan
Sanford immediately went back to shore, got rope, swam back out, and tied it to the log. He then swam and walked the log to shore and secured it to his dock.
Next, Sanford called two neighbors, Rob Hardman and Bernie Glenn, and together they devised a plan to get it out of the river. Hardman towed the log with his boat to a boat ramp. Glenn took a truck and tow strap and met him at the ramp.
The log was then dragged onto the ramp where Glenn used his chainsaw to cut it into pieces so Sanford could load it into his truck for transport to the dump.
“It was Billy’s quick thinking to get the log out of the river that very likely saved what could have been a fatal crash with a boat or jet ski as it was barely visible above the surface,” said Hardman.
Sanford is a professional firefighter and EMT first responder in Fredericksburg. “It is certainly great to know that we all have such a wonderful hero right here in our neighborhood,” said Hardman. “Thank you Billy.”
