Rescue Swimmers Bring Struggling Man to Safety in Columbia River

Vancouver, United States – Rescue swimmers brought a man to safety after he began struggling in the Columbia River near Vancouver's waterfront in Washington state.

Footage released by Vancouver Police Department shows responders watching from the rocky shoreline before crews assist the man beside the water and place him on a stretcher.

Police said officers had been searching the waterfront during a welfare check on Tuesday when an officer saw the man enter the river. Firefighters later found him conscious but struggling to swim and calling for help.

Two Vancouver Fire Department rescue swimmers reached him and brought him back to shore. Portland Fire & Rescue transported him by boat to a nearby dock before he was taken to hospital in stable condition, police said.