VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAV) — Neighbors in a Virginia Beach community are recognizing a homeless man’s efforts to save a woman after she fell in a pond.
According to Virginia Beach EMS, a person in a wheelchair had fallen into a lake in the 3900 block of Water Oak Road after 6 p.m. on March 6.
Kevin Nizer, who’s lived in the community for eight years, says he was on his balcony overlooking the water when he saw something going on.
“I take a double look and see a set of legs and immediately the cry for help. When you hear that cry, it’s so gut-wrenching. You don’t want to see it again,” he said.
The U.S. Navy veteran says he ran inside to get dressed while his fiancee ran down to the lake. Nizer says he caught up to her and others were pulling a woman out of the water.
He says he grabbed blankets to keep her warm and another neighbor with nursing experience also came out to help.
“The show of community in all of this chaos of the world we live in was just a gorgeous thing to see,” he said.
But the most moving part for Nizer, besides helping to save a life, is the actions of one of the men who reached the woman first and called out for help.
“You don’t ever think to even say ‘Hi.’ You just go about your businesses. You wouldn’t know that guy’s a hero,” he said.
Nizer is talking about Bradley Glover, a man who’s currently living through homelessness.
Glover was at his friend Terry Stokes’ apartment on Sunday when the two saw the woman in the wheelchair fall into the water.
“I just did it. Instincts. My whole body shut down completely. I was able to hold the wheelchair out of the water,” he said.
Glover says he’s never saved anyone before.
“It was all in God’s hands. God being there for me,” he said. “Everyone’s been there for me. Virginia Beach is strong. It’s just one thing.”
Nizer hopes that others will hear about Glover’s action and be inspired to not only act with kindness and bravery but also treat those experiencing homelessness better.
“I will forever be changed by that day knowing a homeless man, who would give the only shirt off his back and he wouldn’t care. To see him as soon as it happened, to see him laid out on the sidewalk completely exhausted. He didn’t even have a meal for him that day. For as many things I saw in the military, it was life-changing for me. That man allowed her to breathe,” he said.
According to Virginia Beach EMS, the patient was transported to the hospital.
Nizer also injured his knee while running to help.
If you’d like to help Glover, he says he’d prefer gift cards to cash. You can mail them to:
Terrence Stokes
825 Waterview Pl
Apt 102
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
