TITUSVILLE, Fla. – A Titusville woman is thanking an Army veteran for saving her life after the current took her hundreds of yards into the Indian River Lagoon.
Kay Reed said she and her boyfriend were at the lagoon Friday afternoon. She was floating in an inner tube when the current pulled her far out into the water.
"I couldn't swim back in," Reed said.
Her boyfriend, who was on the shore, called for her to come back, but she couldn't. He was on the phone with 911 dispatchers when Army veteran Kyle Ahart saw what was happening.
"She was really far out there," Ahart said.
The 34-year-old veteran who served for nine years and was deployed five times said he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
"I guess that was God's plan," he said.
He was parked near Reed's vehicle reading and studying to become a commercial pilot.
He said that, when he saw Reed struggling his instincts took over. He jumped into the water and swam out to save her. He said he knew he couldn't wait for first responders to arrive.
"If I hesitate, she'll be gone," Ahart said.
Ahart, who said he is not a strong swimmer, got Reed back to shore where she was checked out by paramedics.
Reed said she is overwhelmed with gratitude. She reunited with Ahart on Sunday morning at the site of the incident and thanked him by giving him a card and an angel statue.
"I could have died. I could have drowned until he came to me," Reed said.
Ahart said he did what he was trained to do and is thankful he was there when Reed needed him the most.
"I consider myself somebody that sees somebody who needs help, I would hope that anybody would do that if they seen somebody else," Ahart said.
Reed is calling him her hero and angel.
"God bless him. He's my life. He's my angel," she said.