Page 3 - Sergeant Moriarty News Today

America. its beauty is mesmerizing, its power awe-inspiring. but on this day, its the force of men, not nature, thats the biggest miracle of all. an unbelievable rescue mission to save one man who has crept dangerously close to the edge of the falls. the call comes in on march 19th, 2003, 5:08 p.m. sergeant pat moriarty is on duty. hes a 19-year veteran of the niagara falls state park police. >> our radioman yelled down the hall and said, we just got a call from the canadians. theres a man on th...

Ice under the water, and that was the last thing i wanted to have happen. >> moriarty cant know it yet, but he would soon face his greatest fear. but for now, they inch out into the raging waters, hoping to get the man a life ring. onshore, a rescue worker finds a suicide note from the man now fighting fiercely for his life. but carella and moriarty know nothing about the note, and theyre able to make contact with the victim. >> we wanted to reassure him, tell him that were coming to get you, we...

Standing almost in waist-deep water right at the brink of the falls, the hair on the back of my neck went up. >> moriarty immediately calls the fire department and the helicopter rescue unit. he also calls the power company upriver and asks them to use their dam to lower the water level. within minutes, niagara firefighter gary carella arrives on the scene. >> where the victim was standing is almost impossible to fathom. it is one of the most dangerous positions that a person can put themselves ...

His arms and legs around the man and braces himself. >> pat yelled for them to pull, and ill tell you what. it was the quickest ever i thought i would to go up an embankment, but it must have been the adrenaline on top because we slid out of there in a matter of seconds. >> and minutes later, sergeant moriarty is pulled to safety too. its a chaotic scene, but now both on solid ground, the two men who just risked their lives to save another search for each other in the crowd. >> we shook hands, a...

Carella and moriarty into the water. these two men, whod met only in passing before, know theyll need to trust each other. >> we shook hands and looked each other in the eye and i think we understood, im there to save your life and youre there to save mine. >> as theyre lowered into the water, they both have two ropes attached to their harnesses. one ties them to a small shrub on the shore, and the other is controlled by about 20 rescuers. they will use all of their strength to keep those men fr...

>> we made four or five attempts to get him with the rescue basket. we got pretty close to him. the problem is with the treacherous air current, it was almost impossible to control the aircraft. >> at some point he said, im running out of power. were not going to be able to do this. >> another failed attempt. the chopper returns to land so the team can come up with plan "c." and in the water, carella and moriarty know time is not on their side. >> at this time now, its starting to get dark. gary...

My neck went up. >> moriarty immediately calls the fire department and the helicopter rescue unit. he also calls the power company upriver and asks them to use their dam to lower the water level. within minutes, niagara firefighter gary carella arrives on the scene. >> where the victim was standing is almost impossible to fathom. it is one of the most dangerous positions that a person can put themselves in. if i was a betting man, i would bet 99.9 times out of 100, that no one could stand that c...

Biggest miracle of all. an unbelievable rescue mission to save one man who has crept dangerously close to the edge of the falls. the call comes in on march 19th, 2003, 5:08 p.m. sergeant pat moriarty is on duty. hes a 19-year veteran of the niagara falls state park police. >> our radio man yelled down the hall and said, we just got a call from the canadians. theres a man on the ice at terrapin point. >> not a safe place to be. terrapin point is a piece of land that sits as close to the falls as ...

Was the last thing i wanted to have happen. >> moriarty cant know it yet, but he would soon face his greatest fear. but for now, they inch out into the raging waters, hoping to get the man a life ring. onshore, a rescue worker finds a suicide note from the man now fighting fiercely for his life. but carella and moriarty know nothing about the note, and theyre able to make contact with the victim. >> we wanted to reassure him, tell him that were coming to get you, were here for you. >> he was abl...

Only he can save the man now. but spray is pelting him in the face. and so blindly he tosses the life ring into the teeth of the swirling wind. >> fortunately i got pretty close to him, and the current took it right across in front of his face, about two foot in front of him. >> now its do or die for the man who has held on for so long. >> hes got it. >> he actually had to let go of what he was holding onto to get the ring. it was about a foot or two in front of him. he let go, and he grabbed th...