ST. LOUIS — A man is in critical condition at an area hospital after he was found on the bank of River des Peres near the border between St. Louis and St. Louis County Thursday morning.
Brentwood police released a missing person alert that said the man was last seen on Tuesday.
He was missing for almost two days. First responders and neighbors who live near the river said it's a miracle he is alive.
Officials believe the Brentwood man washed down from Deer Creek in the flood waters and was in the river for 24 to 48 hours before washing up on the bank of River des Peres Thursday morning.
"The whole region was flooded. We have made several rescues over the last several days," said Shrewsbury fire Chief Chris Amenn, but they've never done a rescue like this one. "It is very unusual. It's not anything we've ever seen before."
At around 8:30 a.m., the Shrewsbury Fire Department received a report of a man down on the bank of River des Peres, close to the Shrewsbury Metro Transit station.
A woman walking her dog saw the man and called 911.
"We didn't know if he was alive or deceased until we were able to access him. Our guys went through the woods and had to cut some trees out of the way to get down to him. It's a pretty rough terrain over there. And once they were able to access him, they were able to start life-saving measures right away," Amenn said.
The man was on a section of riverbank near the intersection of Mardel and Wabash avenues. Firefighters with the Maplewood, Shrewsbury and St. Louis fire departments helped pull the man from the shore and get him into an ambulance.
The 53-year-old was rushed to the hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
"He was very pale, very cold. He was not coherent. So, we started warming procedures right away to warm him up. He was extremely hypothermic and in critical condition when we found him, and he was still that way when we transported him," Amenn said.
To their surprise, Amenn said emergency crews learned this was the same man who had been missing out of Brentwood for nearly two days. The man had last been seen at 11 a.m. Tuesday near his apartment on the 8700 block of Manchester Road, which is about four miles from where he was found.
Amenn believes the man was pulled into the river by flooding earlier this week.
"It's not often that we see somebody in floodwaters for one to two days that survive. We certainly hope he makes it through," Amenn said.
Darin Atkins was walking his dog when first responders pulled up and saw everything unfold next to his street.
"They were also bringing in a rescue boat down to the River Des Peres area, and a lot of neighbors were outside talking with fire and rescue about the situation if they've seen anything," Atkins said. "Certainly, it's tragic to find out what happened. Thoughts and prayers, for sure, to their family. If there is anything we can do in our little neighborhood, feel free to let us know as well because we're always down to help and kind of feel terrible about the whole situation. I wish we could have done something sooner as well."
5 On Your Side spoke with the man's wife Thursday evening, who said her husband was still fighting for his life in critical condition, and doctors were still working on warming him.