Caught on camera: Good Samaritan rescues woman standing over guardrail on Leo Frigo Bridge

GREEN BAY — A woman was rescued from the Leo Frigo Bridge Tuesday thanks to a quick-thinking passerby.

Green Bay police say 43-yearold Robert Vine was on the bridge Tuesday when he noticed a woman standing over the guardrail on the bridge. Vine briefly spoke to the woman and eventually rescued her, carrying her to safety.

The rescue was caught on video.



Vine is now being hailed a hero. Police thanked him on Wednesday morning, for his efforts Tuesday on the bridge.

While not afraid of heights, talking in front of people is something that makes Vine uncomfortable.

 

"He's very uncomfortable in that type of setting. He is very comfortable working on the edge of an I-beam," said Chad Hooyman, Vine's former apprenticeship instructor for the Local 8 Iron Workers.

While Vine didn't want to speak on camera with FOX6's sister station, WLUK, Hooyman said Vine was the perfect person to come across a person in need of help on the Leo Frigo Bridge.

"Him walking on that beam is like you walking down the sidewalk. There isn't a fear. You don't have the normal hesitance that you or many people might have," Hooyman said.

Vine was heading north on the bridge when he noticed a stopped car in the southbound lanes. Vine took the closest exit, turning around to get back on the bridge, thinking the driver needed help with their vehicle.

"He stopped his vehicle behind the female's vehicle, got out, and started to look around, started to investigate the incident himself," said Captain Kevin Warych with the Green Bay Police Department.

Off camera, Vine told WLUK he found a girl holding a teddy bear standing on top of one of the bridge's girders.

"She was sitting, looking at the Fox River, crying. I just needed to kind of sneak out there and make her feel better," Vine said.

Vine said when he approached the woman, he grabbed her ankle. He said that is when he knew she wouldn't be going in the water.

"It's dangerous. Robert put himself in harm's way," Warych said.

A police officer showed soon after Vine. However, Vine was the one to lift the woman to safety, off the edge of the bridge.

The fact that he was comfortable up there I think was what made the difference here," said Hooyman.