A visitor from the Canary Islands, out for a stroll, ends up wet when he becomes trapped on the John's Pass drawbridge.
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
Published October 6, 2003
[Times photo: Michael Rondou]
Mike Jenkins said he didn't notice the warning signal and safety barricades until it was too late.
[Times photo: Michael Rondou]
The 22-foot-high John's Pass drawbridge is the only one in Pinellas County that opens on demand.
MADEIRA BEACH - Mike Jenkins came to Florida to play golf, but he got a terrifying encounter with the John's Pass drawbridge.
Jenkins was walking across across the bridge about 12:30 a.m. Saturday when it started opening, authorities said. He hung on as long as he could, then fell through the gap in the bridge into the water.
"I hit the water quite hard," Jenkins said Saturday night as he held an ice pack on his right eye. "It's quite a drop."
The bridge, which links Treasure Island and Madeira Beach, is 22 feet high. It is the only Pinellas drawbridge that opens on demand, because the channel beneath is too turbulent for boats to wait.
Jenkins, 50, a developer who lives on Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off Africa's northwest coast, suffered no broken bones, but his right arm was scraped and his back and chest are sore.
Pinellas County sheriff's Detective Tim Goodman said a deputy told him that he saw Jenkins fall. The deputy could not be reached for comment.
Jenkins said he and Colin Whitehead, 53, and John Gillitt, 54, friends vacationing together for two weeks, arrived in Madeira Beach on Thursday. After golfing and sightseeing in the Naples and Orlando areas and visiting Busch Gardens, the three men headed to John's Pass Village for dinner Friday.
About midnight, Jenkins decided to take a walk alone to hear some live music across the bridge.
As he walked along the northbound span, he stopped near the center of the four-lane bridge to watch some fishermen in a small boat.
He heard a ringing noise, but "it didn't register to me that it was a danger signal and that something was happening," he said.
He also didn't notice that the safety barricades had lowered and that he was on the wrong side of them.
"Then the bridge started to move," he said.
Jenkins said it is hard to believe the bridge tender didn't see him. The bridge tender could not be reached for comment.
As the span began to open, Jenkins stepped back toward solid ground. About 10 feet short of his goal, it was too late. He clung to it a railing as the bridge approached a vertical position. Jenkins let go, hoping to land on the fixed part of the bridge. He didn't. He fell through the gap created by the opening of the span and into the water.
Jenkins, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds, went deep but fought his way to the surface. There, some men fishing in a boat under the bridge picked him up and took him to shore near John's Pass Village.
Jenkins said the deputy who witnessed the fall was waiting for him. He declined medical attention and took a cab back to his room.
"We think he was in shock when they put him in the taxi and sent him home," Whitehead said.
"I was a little confused, to say the least," Jenkins said. "There was somebody with me when I fell, that's for sure."
As odd as the incident is, it's not unique.
In 1997, a 48-year-old man suffered a compound leg fracture and head injuries after riding the John's Pass Bridge as it rose, then losing his grip and sliding 50 feet to the road.
On Thursday, an 82-year-old woman fell to the pavement as a Fort Lauderdale drawbridge opened. She died at the scene. Authorities said the bridge tender did not see her.
Jenkins' pals teased him, but realized the danger their friend faced. They took him to a walk-in clinic, where he was advised to go to a hospital. He didn't.
"I just want to get home," said Jenkins, who is scheduled to fly home Tuesday. "I think my holiday is over."
