DPD Harbormaster officers rescue man who jumped off Belle Isle bridge

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Detroit Police Harbormaster on Belle Isle is always on standby when tragedy strikes on the water.

Earlier this month – a call came in that someone had jumped off the MacArthur Bridge. He’d climbed onto a chunk of floating ice. 

"As soon as we got the run, we knew what we had to do. We synced right up," said Officer Michael Choukourian. "When we got to him he was in a fetal position hunched over. He had his jacket over him and there was very limited movement, physical movement, and he couldn’t speak. He was shivering uncontrollably. "

Officers Choukourian and Marcel Clark, two of the four rescuers, and one of the others was off-duty when they made the save.

"He was actually off-duty, but I mean we're the police department - when are we really off-duty?" Clark said.

They were able to fight the current and ice floes to rescue the man. He was suffering from a mental health emergency when he jumped into the icy water. 

"What goes through my mind is, what if it was one of my family members," Clark said. "We were just lucky to be at the right place at the right time."

Sadly, this is more common than you might think. Detroit police tells us they deal with people trying to jump off the Belle Isle bridge about a dozen times per year.

"It’s not - if it's going to happen, it's whenever its going to happen," Choukourian said. "(It's just) being ready to jump into action." 

The team is hoping the man gets the help he needs and they, humbly say they’re just doing their job.  

"That’s what we sign up for is to really, truly, help people," said Choukourian. "It all came together."

Harbormaster heroes: These are the four officers who rescued the man from the icy water.