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Red Cross Honors Temple Terrace Aquatics Supervisor

Tribune photo by SCOTT ISKOWITZ

Marshall Duncan, here working with lifeguards during a training session at the Temple Terrace Family Recreation Complex, recently received the Certificate of Merit from the American Red Cross.

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JOYCE McKENZIE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 25, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE - Although many call him a hero, Marshall Duncan is rarely one to revel in the praises of his gallantry.

"I just do what I'm trained to do," said Duncan, 45, the aquatics supervisor at the Temple Terrace Family Recreation Complex, where as an American Red Cross-certified lifeguard and instructor he oversees all swim-lesson and lifeguard-training programs.

The basic purpose of the center's water safety classes, Duncan said, is to teach students skills that can save their lives, as well as those of others.

For Duncan, one of those unexpected occurrences came Dec. 2, 2005, when he spared the life of John Anderson, a 76-year-old nonswimmer from Chicago who nearly drowned in Temple Terrace.

While driving to work that morning, Duncan's "sixth sense" kicked in when he spotted the man peering over the Hillsborough River bridge railing on Fowler Avenue near Morris Bridge Road. An empty car was nearby.

"When I saw him put one leg over the railing, I knew exactly what he was going to do," said Duncan, who with nearly 30 years' experience as a lifeguard instinctively made a quick U-turn, called 9-1-1, disrobed down to his underwear and jumped into the frigid water to save Anderson from what he surmised was an attempted suicide. In spite of the river's breathtakingly cold temperature and his struggle to grab Anderson while he thrashed about in the 14-foot-deep water, Duncan managed to subdue the man and bring safely him to shore.

Last week, another surprising scene unfolded before Duncan's eyes at the beginning of what he thought was going to be a "state of the city" presentation at the recreation complex by Temple Terrace City Manager Kim Leinbach.

At Leinbach's side was Andrea Trout of the American Red Cross, who presented Duncan with the organization's Certificate of Merit. The honor is the highest award issued by the American Red Cross to a person who saves or sustains the life of another person as a result of Red Cross training, according to the organization's Web site. On average, 100 such awards are presented every year, and each is signed by President Bush.

"We are very thankful Marshall was able to receive the award," said Trout, who serves as the Tampa Bay chapter's health and safety account manager. "It speaks volumes about his skills as a lifeguard and his capabilities as a lifeguard trainer. The quality of the lifeguards Marshall turns out at the Temple Terrace center is just amazing."

The father of three from Dade City described the award as simply "an awesome honor."

"I e-mailed everybody I know," said Duncan, who, according to several of the center's other employees, is generally known for his humble nature when compliments come his way.

Co-worker Danielle Perez said Duncan's act of compassion on that cold morning came as no surprise to her.

"With Marshall, you can always expect him to be helpful," said Perez, a recreation leader in charge of special events. "He's just a great person."

James Chambers, the city's director of leisure services, said saving the man's life was only one of many good deeds Duncan has performed in times of crisis.

Others include extricating a man from a burning airplane that crashed near Lakeland Linder Regional Airport and administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to an injured car crash victim while waiting for paramedics to arrive on the scene. He later learned the person was HIV-positive, and as a result, Duncan had to undergo a series of AIDS tests at his own expense.

"We're proud of all of Marshall's accomplishments and especially what he did from what he learned from his Red Cross classes to win the organization's impressive award," Chambers said.

The man Duncan saved in the Hillsborough River had been arrested two weeks earlier in Marion County, charged with driving under the influence manslaughter in the deaths of two people in a traffic crash on Interstate 75. He was free on bond.

Anderson later was convicted and is serving a 30-year prison term at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution Annex in Milton.

Even if he had known about the arrest before he saved the man's life, Duncan said the outcome would have been the same.

"I would have jumped in the river regardless because drowning is a terrible way to die," Duncan said. "He's got to accept the consequences given to him, but killing himself is not one of them."

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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