Man’s Heroic Act Deserves Recognition

Thanks to the quick thinking and heroic actions of Chris Sullivan, general manager of Yang’s Palace who lives adjacent to the restaurant, she should be thankful to be alive.

The problem is her memory of the event is likely dulled by the fact she was inebriated and clearly unaware of the severity of what was happening at the time. Her ridiculous actions and words after the event were surely a result of the substances because she was extremely fortunate.

According to police reports and Sullivan’s statements this week, the 23-year-old Fenwick Island woman was driving southbound on Coastal Highway around 2 a.m. on Monday. At some point, her tires popped and she ended up driving across a parking lot, striking a pontoon boat and driving into a 10-foot-deep canal.

It turned out the fact her tires had popped along the way could have saved her life because that’s what alerted Sullivan to the situation. He could hear her rims scraping on the pavement from the apartment he was staying in above the 54th Street restaurant. He was able to smash a window of her vehicle, which was quickly sinking in the canal, and eventually rescued her, putting his own life in danger along the way (read more of the details in our story on the front page).

Sullivan displayed tremendous courage in saving this woman’s life, and it’s our hope at some point the woman will reach out to the man because she clearly did not let him know at the scene of the incident she was appreciative. After all, she made it known she was upset with him for knocking out her vehicle’s rear window, despite the fact it was sinking in the bay, and fled the scene immediately, only to be found at a nearby bus stop.

Sullivan deserves all the publicity he received this week because not everyone would have acted as he did, and that means something special. Acts like this are not to be taken for granted. He is a hero for saving this woman’s life. His instincts took over and a late night, drunken tragedy was averted.