Linn County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to calls about a possible suicidal man at Green Peter Dam on at 1:47 p.m. on Sunday, June 14.
When deputies arrived at 1:58 p.m., the man, Robert Flaharty, 50, of Salem, had one foot on the dam and on a vehicle, said Patrol Captain Kevin Guilford. He said Flaharty made suicidal statements and, when deputies asked if he was OK, he jumped from the dam. The distance to the water is 50 feet, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Flaherty suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs as a result of hitting the water, Guilford said.
Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District rescue personnel responded shortly thereafter and a bystander with a jet ski ferried firefighter Craig Wilson to where Flaharty was floating in the water after it proved impossible to get the district’s rescue boat into the water in the dam area.
Wilson swam to Flaharty and, within seconds, a Sheriff’s patrol boat arrived, piloted by Marine Deputy Matthew Wilcox. He backed the patrol boat to where Wilson and Flaharty were and he and Wilson loaded Flaharty, on a stretcher, onto a platform at the rear of the boat.
They then transported Flaharty to Good Samaritan Hospital in Albany, where he was in stable condition as of Monday, June 15, Guilford said. He said Flaharty would be evaluated by mental health workers.
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