{"id":16877,"date":"2019-07-15T13:42:27","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T18:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=16877"},"modified":"2019-07-15T13:42:27","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T18:42:27","slug":"marietta-officer-saves-georgia-couple-from-drowning-on-florida-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=16877","title":{"rendered":"Marietta officer saves Georgia couple from drowning on Florida vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WSB-TV<\/a>) \u2013\u00a0A Marietta police officer just happened to be in\u00a0 exactly\u00a0the right place at the right time on a recent trip to Florida \u2014 and it likely saved a Georgia couple\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Officer Matt Salyers told\u00a0Channel 2\u2019s\u00a0Berndt Petersen<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>that he was on his last day vacation at Destin with his family over Memorial Day weekend. He was on a jet ski when he saw a couple struggling in the water about a mile from the shore near an abandoned watercraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I turned around, all I see is just the jet ski floating,\u201d Salyers said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Wait. There\u2019s people who were just on that jet ski.'\u201d<\/p>\n

Salyers raced to the rescue with the help of other members of his family, and they pulled\u00a0Regina Beard and Darren Howard out of the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was screaming, like in a panic,\u201d Salyers said. \u201cHe said his girlfriend couldn\u2019t swim. \u2018She can\u2019t swim! Help me get her out!'\u201d<\/p>\n

Salyers said on his return trip to the dock, he learned the couple is\u00a0from Gwinnett County.<\/p>\n

This week, the couple reunited with Salyers at the Marietta Police Department\u00a0to thank him for his heroic actions.<\/p>\n