Local

St. Johns firefighter saves lives while battling cancer

A local firefighter battling cancer is being honored for saving lives.

Action News Jax introduced you to Pat Taaffe back in September and told you how the "Pat Strong" campaign is raising money as he works to get a tumor removed from his colon.

But despite his own sickness, he was able to save a driver stuck under the water in St. Johns County.

On Thursday, he described the rescue to Action News Jax reporter Michael Yoshida.

“It was completely dark?” Yoshida asked.

"Complete! Zero visibility. I can’t see my hand in front of my face,” Taaffe said.

Those were the conditions Taaffe and another firefighter faced as they worked to save a driver after he crashed his car into a retention pond.

“When we arrived, there was no visibility of the vehicle anymore. The headlights had turned out, there were very dim brake lights and the vehicle was totally submerged. Jet black water,” Taaffe said.

The crash happened on May 2, 2015, near the Interstate 95 South exit ramp to International Golf Parkway.

“I was dressed like this originally when I woke up for the call that evening and I stripped down and put on swim trunks in the back of the truck on the way to the call,” Taaffe said.

Once at the scene, Taaffe and Engineer Russell Burney rushed into the dark water. They found the car 40 feet from shore and then took turns diving down, holding their breath during each dive.

“Once I got to the car I felt around until I got to the door handle. And then as I got to the door handle I was pulling, pulling, pulling and I couldn’t get the door handle on the driver’s side because there was damage on that side of the vehicle. So I swam around to the opposite of the vehicle and that’s when I was able to pull hard enough and free the door," Taaffe said.

Once the door was open, Burney dove down and pulled the driver out of the car. Recently the two were honored for their actions receiving one of the department’s highest honors, the Meritorious Service Medal.

“I couldn’t have had a better partner than Engineer Russell Burney with me that evening. I was very happy to have him by my side that night. I did not want to be in that water alone,” Taaffe said.

Taaffe and Burney normally don't work in the area of St. Johns County where the rescue happened. But they just happened to be filling in at different fire stations that night. Taaffe said they were just in the right place at the right time. The driver of the car, despite being submerged for around 30 minutes, was OK.