The good samaritan who made headlines last week after jumping off a Maryland bridge to save a little girl from drowning has officially revealed his identity.
Jonathan Bauer, who initially wished to remain anonymous, spoke for the first time on Friday (May 7) and opened up about his heroic act during a press conference shared by KJLA.
On May 2, a five-vehicle crash on the Maryland Route 90 bridge over Assawoman Bay caused a two-year-old girl to eject from a pickup truck into the water below. Bauer, who was driving alongside the accident with his daughter, quickly sprang into action.
“When I looked over, I saw the car seat and some other items, and about 6 feet away from the car seat was a little girl. She was on her back, completely floating, head completely out of the water, arms moving, legs kicking, and a little pink dress,” Bauer said.
When Baeur noticed the little girl started sinking underwater, he made the 25-foot leap to the water below.
“I popped up, swam over to the girl, lifted her out of the water, and looked at her,” he explained. “Her mouth was open, her eyes were semi-open and then I put her against my shoulder very high and aggressively patted her on the back. And within seconds, she spit up a bunch of water — a lot of water — and then started coughing and took a deep breath.”
A family in a nearby boat went over and rescued both Bauer and the baby just moments later. The little girl has been released from a Baltimore hospital and is expected to be OK, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Bauer was honored by Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, who called him a “humble hero” at the Friday press conference.
