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Life-saving decision on flood swollen river

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. — Kanawha County resident Bobby Lawson says he quickly realized during flash flooding last weekend that he was fighting a losing battle.

The Pocatalico River had swollen above its banks near Camp Virgil Tate last Saturday afternoon when Lawson was trying to get home. He decided to get out of his car and walk across the bridge when he was taken away by the water. He tried to swim but couldn’t and then he suffered a seizure.

“I thought I could walk through over top the bridge and the current took my feet and it was faster than I thought,” Lawson recounted Friday.

Columbia Pipeline Group lineman Mike Marques had been called to the area to investigate the smell of natural gas when he saw Lawson struggling in the water. Marques jumped in to help.

“I went up and grabbed a hold of him and drug him back to the bank, (another man) helped me pull him out of there,” Marques said. “It was a little struggle but we got him out of there.”

Marques, a Poca area resident, has worked in the area for years and knows the lay of the land. He said he didn’t think twice about helping Lawson.

“I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting him out of there. Anybody else would have done the same thing, I hope,” he said.

Lawson’s not so sure. He’s thankful it was Marques who was there.

“The different result is that I’d be dead,” Lawson said.

The two men got together again Friday on the Camp Virgil Tate Bridge. They shook hands and expressed how thankful they were things turned out like they did.





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