By Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK, Va. — Ted Drake regularly swims at Northside Swimming Pool about 8 a.m.
On Saturday, Drake, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake, was thinking about doing something else when he decided to go swimming just a little later than usual.
He was on his third lap headed toward the deep end when he saw a man lying at the bottom of the pool.
Drake said he initially thought the man might have purposely gone to the bottom. He had seen him swimming laps with a partner earlier. But, as he took a few more strokes, Drake didn’t see the man moving.
“I took a deep breath, yelled at the lifeguards and then went down,” Drake said.
Putting his arms around the unresponsive man, Drake pulled him to the surface.
Lifeguards got a board underneath the man and Drake let go.
When the man was pulled from the pool, he was breathing and had a pulse but was unresponsive, Drake said.
Rescue workers were called to the pool about 8:30 a.m., Battalion Chief Harry Worley said. T he man was already out of the pool when they arrived less than a minute later, and he was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Worley did not know his status, and Norfolk police had no information about the incident.
Drake said that by the time the man was put on an ambulance, he was wiggling his toes.
“I heard his name was Dave,” Drake said. “I hope I get to meet him some day.”
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