ANNUAL ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT RETREAT ENDS WITH HEROIC RESCUE
ECSU Coaches Help Pull Two Stranded Men To Safety On The James River
May 25, 2006
ELIZABETH CITY, NC- After two days of fellowshipping and teambuilding, the coaches from the Elizabeth City State University Athletic Department put their team working skills to the test, rescuing two men from their overturned boat on the James River.
The Viking Staff was returning from a fishing trip that concluded their annual retreat last Thursday when they happened upon a small sailboat floating on its side. The boat's two passengers were two men, one middle aged and one appeared to be in his early twenties. Both donned life jackets, but were left clinging to the boat for approximately ten minutes before the ECSU Crew spotted them. The rescue boat's captain Billy then tossed the young man a rope to tie to the capsized vessel so that he could attempt to pull the sailboat upright. However the first order of business was to pull the waterlogged men out of the river.
In an ultimate display of team work, Waverly Tillar (Head Football Coach), Terrance Whittle (Head Baseball Coach), Shawn Walker (Head Men's Basketball Coach), Anton Thomas (Head Softball Coach), Alico Dunk (Assistant Men's Basketball Coach) and Tremayne Henry (Saint Augustine's College Assistant Football Coach) braced themselves in a chain-link effort to pull the men aboard the forty-foot fishing boat. Then Billy maneuvered the fishing boat for the next couple of minutes until it reluctantly gave in and stood upright. Afterwards he continued to tug the sailboat until the water had flushed out. The two men then re-boarded their handicapped sailboat to survey the damage while the Vikings' vessel graciously retrieved their possessions which were scattered about in the water.
In perhaps what was the strangest turn of events, the two men who were rescued seemed to be more preoccupied with their boat and the items in the water than with their own safety. When Captain Billy offered to tow them back to shore they declined and instead hustled back aboard their own boat. Even more remarkable was the fact that neither uttered a word of thanks in appreciation for the help with their possessions or with themselves. "That's okay. We did a good deed today," remarked Billy. "You never know with these waters, they might have ended up in tomorrow's paper."
As for their heroism the ECSU coaches seemed humbly unaffected. "That's okay that they didn't thank us," said Coach Whittle. "I know we did the right thing in helping them so it's all good."
