A tiki boat captain saved a woman from drowning in the Monongahela River near Point State Park on Saturday, just one month after another tiki boat captain fished a drowning boy out of the Allegheny.
Captain Robb Rusiewicz, who saved the unidentified woman shortly after 10 a.m., was modest in recalling the incident.
“You just have to be vigilant and safe in situations where people need help,” said Rusiewicz, 54. “Any good Samaritan would have stepped in.”
Rusiewicz had served as a civilian captain in the U.S. Coast Guard for nearly 35 years when he started operating tiki boats this summer for Cruisin’ Tikis Pittsburgh.
The Plum resident grew up in Lower Burrell. But one could just as easily say he grew up on Lake Erie, where he’s been boating and fishing since his father and grandfather took him on a trip at 13.
On Saturday, he was taking an Altoona- area family celebrating Grace Ventura’s 12th birthday on a tour of Pittsburgh’s rivers when he spotted someone in the Monongahela River.
“Someone was in the water, below the barges, near Station Square,” Rusiewicz said. “That’s an area someone shouldn’t be swimming.”
As Rusiewicz steered the tiki boat closer, passenger Brian Gates — Grace’s mother’s partner — said he shouted to the woman, “Are you OK? Are you OK?!”
“ ‘No’ is all she got out,” said Gates, 60, of Hollidaysburg, Blair County. “I don’t think she could’ve lasted more than a few minutes more.”
Rusiewicz got closer, pulled the woman onto the boat’s deck and set off for Point State Park. Gates called 911.
The woman, who appeared to be in her mid-50s, didn’t talk much and appeared to be in shock, Gates said. When she did speak, she told Gates she didn’t remember how she ended up in the river.
By the time the group docked near the confluence a few minutes later, park rangers were there to greet the octagon-shaped boat. Pittsburgh EMS was en route.
When medics arrived, they evaluated the woman, who authorities did not identify, public safety spokesperson Cara Cruz said Monday. Though she had no visible injuries or trauma, the woman was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital as a precaution.
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“The bottom line is she’s OK, she’s getting care,” Gates said. “We just don’t know how she got in there in the first place.”
This is the second such tiki rescue this summer.
On a sunny July 8, around 4:30 p.m., tiki boat captain Jason Ruhle docked at Point State Park halfway through a two-hour cruise when a young boy — maybe 5 years old — fell into the Allegheny River.
Ruhle, fully clothed, jumped in, grabbed the boy and pushed him onto the park’s riverbank.
“It all happened so fast — the whole thing probably lasted 30 seconds,” said Ruhle, 44, who co-owns Cruisin’ Tikis Pittsburgh. “Next thing I knew, someone was in the river. He was under. I’m not sure how he ended up in there.”
Ruhle and two partners — Dale McCue and Joa Campise — started Cruisin’ Tikis Pittsburgh in 2018.
For five years, Ruhle and a baker’s dozen of captains have been taking Pittsburghers and tourists alike up and down the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. They run cruises seven days a week from May through October.
McCue told the Tribune-Review on Monday that he was “very thankful our captains are so dedicated and aware of their surroundings.”
“There’s always good things to be said about people being observant on the river,” said Jake Weiland, park manager of Point State Park.
“Our captains are out there every day in the water,” added McCue, 52. “I’m just really proud of the team of captains we have.”
“In July, I said, ‘Most of our captains would’ve done the same thing.’ That was Jason being Jason. And it’s the same with Robb.”
Justin Vellucci is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Justin at jvellucci@triblive.com.