This area off Herbert Road in Canfield looked peaceful Friday afternoon. But, Wednesday night things went wrong as two men decided to use pool rafts and float down the flood water covering the area. "That was the closest I've ever been to observing what I thought might be a fatality," said Jerry DeCamp of Canfield.
The current sucked in one of the men, leaving him clinging to the side of the bridge. That's when Jerry DeCamp and his neighbors Jon Ulicney and Ron Knarr draped themselves over the guard rail and grabbed on to the man. "At that point there was no giving up," said Knarr. "No one of us could have left to get help," he said.
The three men hung on for about 15 minutes and with the help of Jon's wife Sandy Ulicney, the ordeal finally came to an end. "You know, by tugging on Jon, Jon was able to get one arm under the guy's armpit. At that point it was just a struggle to get him up," Knarr said.
Despite the outcome of what happened all three men agree that they don't want to be called a hero. "No, no, because anyone would have done it," said Ulicney. The man they saved, only identified as Eric, was fine, aside from some cuts and scrapes on his knees and legs. "We just got that his name is Eric and went our way and thanked the good Lord it went the way it did," said DeCamp.
