Edinburgh man saved from river in Jackson County

Jackson County rescue workers saved an Edinburgh man from East Fork White River west of Seymour over the weekend.

According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, a group of people in kayaks and innertubes on the river called for help after they realized that one of the innertube riders, 32-year-old Dalton J.D. Sawyer had become separated from the group and hadn’t been seen for about 10 minutes. Deputies along with Hamilton Township and Brownstown fire departments responded to the scene near the Bell Ford Public Access Site off of State Road 258 at about 5:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon and began searching on the water and on the shore.

A deputy noticed a blue innertube caught in a log jam about a quarter of a mile north of the site. The Brownstown Fire Department used their air boat to the log jam and found Sawyer still in his inner tube but unconscious. He was pulled from the water by firefighters and brought back to the public access site, where he had already regained consciousness. Jackson County medics took him to Schneck Medical Center where he was treated and released with no injuries.

Sheriff Rick Meyer praised all of the departments, saying that without their quick response and teamwork this could have turned deadly.