It’s not often people get to thank someone who saved them from death, but that’s exactly what a Tampa area man got to do Tuesday.
Life is delicate and during chaotic moments people like Lee Ellison sometimes stare death in the face. Ellison said he got a good look at it.
“I felt pain in my chest,” said Lee Ellison, rescued by Coast Guard crew.
Thanks to a group of Coast Guard heroes Ellison is alive.
“It means so much,” said Ellison.
Tuesday, Ellison reunited with the Coast Guard crew that saved his life two months ago.
Ellison on a tugboat May 16th in the Gulf of Mexico for work started feeling chest pains. The crew flew to his rescue and picked him off the boat just in time. He was having a heart attack.
“I would owe these guys my life, they are more or less a hero to me,” said Ellison.
For now thank you cards and an endless amount of appreciation will have to do.
“When you see someone like that it really hits home more because you get to realize and it puts it in perspective,” said Brad Garrison, U.S. Coast Guard.
A thank you is just enough for these guys who rarely get to meet the survivors and their families.
“These guys right here, all four of them, will have a special place in my heart, always,” said Ellison.
Ellison said from now on when he sees a Coast Guard boat or a plane he’ll immediately think about the guys who saved his life. Ellison is doing much better, and he is already back to work.