Above and beyond his call

Greg Risling

NEWPORT HARBOR -- A 40-year-old woman who reportedly tried to take her

own life Thursday night was saved by an alert Newport Beach man, who dove

into the chilly waters of Newport Harbor and rescued her.

It was another day at work for 20-year-old ferry worker Brian Dunham, who

was shuttling motorists between Balboa Island and the peninsula on the

Balboa Ferry.

Dunham was waiting for his shift to end and was headed to his

girlfriend’s house, where he was ready to jump into a steaming hot tub,

when shortly after 6:30 p.m. he heard a call over the ferry radio.

Someone had jumped into the frigid, 54-degree water off of one of the

ferries headed toward the peninsula. Loaded with passengers, the boat had

to be docked and crew members let the other people off. Dunham, who was

on the other ferry, spotted the woman bobbing in the water.

“I tried to help her out but she didn’t respond,” said Dunham, who said

he threw her a ring buoy. “She wasn’t swimming to it. She looked really

confused.”

Police said the Fullerton woman left a suicide note behind in her car,

which was on the ferry.

When Dunham’s efforts to help the woman from the boat failed, he went the

extra distance. He stripped down to his board shorts and jumped into the

water. The woman, who was flailing and screaming, had been afloat for

about five minutes.

The woman was shivering to the extent she looked as if she was having a

seizure, Dunham said. Trained in first aid and CPR -- a requirement for

ferry employees -- Dunham watched over the woman to make sure she was OK.

Paramedics arrived and took the woman to Hoag Hospital, where she

underwent a psychological evaluation.

“She was yelling and talking incoherently,” said Lt. John Blauer of the

Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department. “That water was pretty chilly,

but it would take a half an hour or longer for someone to lose

consciousness.”

Dunham said he figured the woman probably would have died if no one had

heard the splash.

“She wouldn’t have made it,” he said. “The water isn’t that deep there,

but I was thinking we had to get her on board as fast as possible.”

The woman didn’t have much to say to Dunham, who has been working for the

ferry service for more than four years. But Dunham took the rescue in

stride, knowing that he helped a woman in distress.

“Since I’ve worked there, I’ve never heard of anyone jumping off the

ferry,” he said. “It’s kind of weird to think about it now, looking back.

I figured it was the right thing to do.”