Teens rescue woman who jumped off Ft. Pierce bridge

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Travis Mauldin's jeans are floating somewhere in the Ft. Pierce Inlet.

The 17-year old had to ditch them as he and two friends made a daring rescue early Tuesday morning.

Mauldin along with Cody Beasley, 17, and Brandon Smith, 16, were fishing below Seaway Drive when they heard a loud splash.

"We thought it was a whale or something then we look over there and we just seen a body floating and we heard them make a little bit of noise but not much," says Mauldin.

A woman had jumped from the top of the bridge in what police say was a suicide attempt.

The teens didn't take long to think or get scared.  They just jumped in the water and began swimming.

The swift moving current was quickly pulling the woman away from the bridge.

The teens lost sight of her at one point but continued swimming.  Mauldin stopped to take of his jeans.  They had become water-logged and heavy.

After 15 minutes of swimming, the trio reached the woman who was floating on her back and moaning.

"And then I got up behind her and I like grabbed her and kept her head out of the water," says Smith.  "They were right there helping me and we just took her back."

Paramedics, police and other fishermen were waiting for the teens when they reached the shore.

The woman was rushed to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center but she did not suffer any life-threatening injuries from the fall.  The 41-year old told doctors she had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

She is now being treated at a mental health care facility.

Exhausted from their swim, the teens gathered up their fishing gear and headed home to Okeechobee.

"If we would have let her go, we could never live with ourself (sic) if there was something we could do to save her," says Smith.