Boat captain that saved worker who fell from Ambassador Bridge into Detroit River details his rescue

Mail boat captain talks rescue Ambassador Bridge worker from Detroit River

Sam Buchanan's job running the world’s only floating post office turned into that of first responder. The J.W. Westcott was now a floating ambulance.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - An Ambassador Bridge worker fell about 150 feet into the Detroit River below and was rescued from the water Wednesday.

The man survived the fall and was able to talk to his rescuers. Tense moments of his retrieval were captured on cell phone video moments afterward.

"The force of the impact had ripped most of his clothes off of him," said Mail Boat Capt. Sam Buchanan.

"His work boots were still on him and his pants were around his ankles and he had his T-shirt on," said Buchanan.

His job running the world’s only floating post office turned into that of First Responder. The J.W. Westcott was now a floating ambulance.

"We scrambled out to our boat and we got aboard - myself and two crew members, and with the help of the folks in the park they were pointing to where the man was," said Buchanan.

"Me and a couple other people was guiding him to where the body was," said a witness. "We saw him in the water bouncing up and they went straight to him, pulled him out the water."

"We had him on our hands probably about two to three minutes after he hit the water," Buchanan said. "So it was a pretty quick recovery and once we got him on the boat we got him back to our dock and the Detroit Fire Department was here already. They were really fast on their response."

Buchanan and his crew got a good look at the man they just saved.

"We were relieved that he could talk to us but he was pretty out of it," Buchanan said. "He kept asking us what happened to him and we told him that he fell off the bridge."

They kept him warm with a blanket in case hypothermia set in. It turns out rescues like that one, is all part of Buchanan's regular duty.

"We train to do this all the time. We’re in the business of delivering mail and packages and we’re also the pilot boat here in Detroit," he said. "So we deliver a lot of folks between the shore and the ships that go by so we are constantly practicing man overboard drills. "

The name of the worker has not been released and an investigation is underway.