At 72, Bill Von Herbulis doesnt let life in a wheelchair keep him from fishing and working his crab traps daily at the marina near his Florida home.
But on Sept. 27, it was Von Herbulis who became the catch of the day.
Now Sgt. William Leven is set to receive a Lifesaving Award for jumping into the shark-filled water at feeding time and hoisting him over sharp oyster shells and barnacle-encrusted dock pylons to safety.
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The Volusia County Sheriffs Office posted a video of the rescue the next day on Facebook, praising their quick-acting sergeant.
And as for fishing, Von Herbulis said, “I was back the next day.”
“He doesnt miss,” his wife, Lori Von Herbulis, laughed.
As he does every day, Von Herbulis set out for the marina in his condominium community in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
He motored along in his electric wheelchair, pulling beside him a wagon stuffed with fishing and crabbing gear. He toted his equipment to a narrow private dock near Ponce de Leon Inlet, which sits at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
His wife of 41 years had gone out for the evening. But he usually fishes solo anyway.
At the dock, he pushed the cart with his fishing poles and tackle box ahead of his wheelchair, out past the boat slips to his favorite fishing spot.
It wasnt a memorable evening of fishing. And as the sun dipped, he packed his gear to go back home.
For his safety, the former water treatment plant operator isnt supposed to be on the dock after dark.
And on this night, the dock was unusually vacant. Normally, other anglers would be casting their lines, and people would be strolling, admiring the sunset, he said.
But this night, he was all alone with the lapping waves and rising tide.
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At about 7:30 p.m., he was rumbling over the planks toward home when his wagon of gear bumped into a dock box and jackknifed.
The jostled wheelchair toppled over.
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Von Herbulis tumbled into the water.
His cellphone, his lifeline to support, went, too.
Von Herbulis stayed calm.
“I looked up and swam up to the surface of the water,” he said.
Because it was high tide, he was able to reach up and grasp an electrical conduit pipe jutting between boat slips. At low tide, it would have been 4-6 feet out of reach, Lori Von Herbulis told Fox News Digital.
It “was the closest thing that didn’t have barnacles or oysters on it,” her husband said.
“Help!” he called out. But no one came.
About every 30 seconds, he cried out, “hollering for help,” he said.
He knew his wife would come looking for him when she arrived back home and didnt find him there.
“I’m thinking, Am I gonna have to wait here all night?”
Finally, a just-arriving angler heard splashing and saw Von Herbulis clinging to the pipe. But a locked gate on the dock prevented him from getting close.
“We don’t think he belonged thereânot that we care, because he was our angel,” Lori Von Herbulis said. “But he didn’t have a key to get in.”
The man called 911 anonymously to report a “possible drowning,” sheriffs office records show.
At about 9 p.m., Leven and his partner, Deputy Boris Rodriguez, raced to the private marina at
