Franklin, TN – Franklin Firefighters rescued a man from the flooded Harpeth River Sunday afternoon after his kayak capsized. According to Battalion Chief Tyler Crews, they found him clinging to a tree surrounded by floodwaters near the Lewisburg Pike canoe launch.
A motorist traveling on Mack Hatcher Memorial Pkwy. spotted the man, who is in his 60s, struggling unsuccessfully to reenter his overturned kayak, and called 911. Emergency responders were dispatched just after 2:30 PM.
Crews said it took approximately 15 minutes to locate the man, as well as the three others in his group who became separated from each other. They did so with the help of Franklin Police, and a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera. Firefighters used a boat to reach the man, which they launched from a home at 903 Lewisburg Ave. Crews said he climbed down from the tree into the boat on his own, and firefighters returned him to Lewisburg Ave. where a Williamson Medical Center EMS unit was waiting to assess him. Crews said he was cold, scratched and shaken up, but not seriously hurt.
There were three others kayaking with the man, including another man whose kayak also capsized. He was also initially stranded in a tree, but jumped back in the water and managed to scramble to shore. He arrived in the Forrest Crossing subdivision, where he knocked on a door and asked for help. He and the others were found uninjured.
Crews said, “With high water levels, strong currents, trees and debris, it’s extremely dangerous to enter flooded rivers and water. These individuals were very lucky.”
