Dramatic bodycam footage captured the moment a heroic Florida deputy jumped into shark-infested waters to rescue a wheelchair-bound grandfather who had fallen off a dock.
Bill Von Herbulis, 72, was left holding a pipe for more than an hour after his electric wheelchair tipped into the water at a marina in New Smyrna Beach on September 27.
The footage shows Volusia County Sheriff’s Sgt. William Leven removing his gun belt before diving off the dock into the dark water with a rescue buoy to save the struggling grandfather.
Von Herbulis was leaving from a fishing trip around 7.30pm when the equipment he was hauling bumped into a dock box, causing him to fall from his wheelchair into the ocean, according to Fox News Digital.
He plunged into the water with his cellphone, leaving him stranded as he desperately shouted for help.
The grandfather of six managed to grab hold of an electrical pipe, where he held on for dear life as he screamed until a passing fisherman heard him and called 911.
According to the sheriff’s office, Leven and Deputy Boris Rodriguez arrived at the marina around 9pm and found Von Herbulis struggling to keep his head above water, as per Fox News.
The footage shows Leven entering the water with a rescue buoy before wading his way toward the grandfather.
Bill Von Herbulis, 72, was rescued by Volusia County Sheriff’s Sgt. William Leven on September 27
Herbulis, who been in a wheelchair for nearly two decades, was left holding a pipe for more than an hour after he fell into the water at a marina in New Smyrna Beach, Florida
He reached Von Herbulis and, with the help of bystanders, got him up a nearby set of stairs and back onto the dock.
Von Herbulis, who has been unable to stand or walk since breaking his neck 19 years ago, declined medical attention and was placed back in his electric wheelchair.
‘I looked up and swam up to the surface of the water,’ he told the outlet.
He described how the high tide let him reach the pipe. If the water had been lower, the pipe would have been four to six feet above him.
‘Help!’ he recalled shouting repeatedly as he waited for someone to hear him.
‘I’m thinking, am I gonna have to wait here all night?’ he told the outlet.
The grandfather wasted no time returning to his favorite hobby, following the dramatic rescue.
‘I was back the next day,’ he said.
He screamed until he was finally heard by a fisherman, who called 911
Leven was seen a video rushing down the dock, then taking his gun belt off to dive into the shark infested water, where he secured the elderly man and successfully rescued him
‘He doesn’t miss,’ his wife, Lori Von Herbulis, said.
Leven is now set to receive a Lifesaving Award for his heroic actions, according to the outlet.
Von Herbulis, who regularly catches sharks at the marina, also laughed about escaping the dangerous waters.
‘There’s obviously sharks in that water,’ he said. ‘But they didn’t want me.’
