Scout troop rescues man from river after tractor crash

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — A Scout troop from York County put their survival skills to the test by rescuing a man who was pinned under a tractor in a river.

They noticed the man calling for help while they were floating down the river; now, those scouts are being recognized as lifesavers.

“We were supposed to go to Minnesota, but then we had the wildfires and the place we were going to camp caught on fire,” Tyler Strong told Channel 9 South Carolina Reporter Tina Terry.

Instead, Strong and the other Scouts in Troop 255 from York County traveled to Pennsylvania to canoe on the Allegheny River this summer.

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“And so it was maybe a mile or two miles in, and we were coming around a corner, and I hear a man yell for help,” Strong said.

They paddled hard and eventually found a farm tractor that had fallen into the river. Its driver, Jeff Manelick, was in the water with his left leg pinned underneath the tractor tire.

Strong says his Scouting instincts immediately kicked in.

“I really didn’t think. I was just trying to do whatever I can to get him out of the water,” Strong said.

A Scout leader got the keys and moved the tractor.

“That’s when me and my dad grabbed him by the arms and kind of hooked our arms under his, like, armpit area and then pulled him out,” Strong said.

The Scouts even helped emergency workers pull Manelick out of the water.

“He was definitely hypothermic, and he was in shock,” Strong said.

Manelick was rushed to the hospital. On the phone, he told us he’s doing fine today.

“I didn’t realize how hypothermic I was, and, you know, the timing of them coming along was pretty important. My body temperature was 91.5 when they got me to the emergency room,” Manelick said.

“There were people behind us, but they were, like, 20, 30 minutes behind us. So the guy could very well be in a not very good position or not in a position at all,” Strong said.

All of the members of Troop 255 are from the Lake Wylie and Rock Hill areas.

We’re told the local Pittsburgh council of Scouting USA is recommending the troop and its leaders for one of the lifesaving awards in Scouting.