CAMDEN — When Martin Spry tried to save a life on Sunday, he ended up nearly losing his own.

Spry, who lives by the water near Treasure Point, said he went to check on his boat around 7 p.m. Sunday when he saw a Jet Ski headed toward the Pasquotank River. He said conditions were rough, with wind gusts of 40 mph.

Staff photo Justin Falls (ENLARGE)

Martin Spry stands near the edge of the Pasquotank River behind his home on Treasure Point Road in Camden on Monday, the day after he says he almost drowned trying to save a child.

According to Spry, the Jet Ski hit a wave and one of its young riders, a boy of about 6, went tumbling into the water.

"The boy was bobbing on the water," Spry said. "The two guys tried to pick him up, but they couldn't because the waves were so bad. He popped off (the Jet Ski) like a cork."

Spry said he immediately contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. He then jumped in the water to try and rescue the boy. But by the time he got 10 feet out, the boy had been successfully picked up and the Jet Ski rode away.

That left Spry stranded in 7-foot-deep choppy water, unable to swim back to shore. Unlike the boy, he had no life jacket.

Fortunately, Spry's plight had not gone unnoticed. His neighbors, firefighters and Camden County Sheriff's deputies all came to his aid.

Spry said one of the deputies, Anthony Forbes, swam toward him carrying an extra life jacket. When the extra jacket was lost in the water, Spry said Forbes then removed his own life jacket which he and Forbes clung to as they tried unsuccessfully to swim back to shore.

"It was a pretty scary event for both of us," said Spry. "We both drank a lot of water out there. We both thought we were going to drown."

Spry said the ordeal finally ended when a neighbor was able to get a boat into the water and intercept them both.

Swallowed water aside, Spry did not report any injuries. He credits Forbes with keeping him from drowning and saving his life.

If he were presented with the same situation, Spry said he would do everything the same way again except for one detail.

"I would get a life jacket before I went out there," he said.

Forbes could not be reached Monday.

Walter Meads with Pasquotank-Camden Emergency Medical Services confirmed that there was a report of a child in the water Sunday and that deputies entered the water to assist the child's rescuer.

He said EMS was not needed during the rescue.