Drowning man rescued from bay

Updated 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 SANDUSKY — A drowning man was pulled from Sandusky Bay by Sandusky firefighters Saturday night. At approximately 11 p.m., 911 dispatchers received calls for a man in the bay near the 100 block of E. Shoreline Drive. A bystander, who was alerted to the man in the water, jumped in to try to assist the man. "I was at the bar getting a drink when people came in yelling they needed help," said Robert Lenthe. "I went out back and looked in the water. I saw a man with his head under the water and bubbles coming up." Lenthe said he emptied his pockets, put the items on a nearby table and then leapt into the bay to assist the man. "He was drowning," Lenthe said. "He was gonna (expletive) die." Sandusky firefighters arrived on scene. One of them, Andrew Dowell, donned an emergency survival suit and entered the water. The firefighter pulled the man toward the edge of a deck abutting the water and then several other firefighters pulled the man from the water. EMTs quickly put the man on a gurney and transported him from the scene. His current condition is unknown. A video posted on social media on Sunday appears to show the man clinging to a large tire on the side of the pier. The video shows the man fall from the tire then grasp onto a fence on the decking. The man eventually loses his grip and falls into the bay. Editor's note: when the original story was published, the video was not known to exist.