Longboat public works officials save children from gulf

James Linkogle and Isaac Brownman ate lunch in wet clothes one day last week.

The Public Works Department officials had an appointment March 29 on the north end of Longboat Key when they stopped by the beach to check on erosion, something they routinely do a couple times a month.

What they saw in the surf was nothing routine. They could just make out the bobbing heads of three children struggling against a current or rip tide. Linkogle guessed they were between 8 and 11 years old, and they were in trouble.

When Linkogle, Public Works project manager, and Brownman, Public Works director, assessed the situation, they both jumped into the water.

“It was one of those moments where you react to the situation,” Linkogle said.

As soon as Brownman hopped in the water, the waves carried one of the young girls into his lap. He was able to lift her out of the turbulent water, Linkogle said.

The other boy and girl were stuck a bit farther out, Linkogle said. But then “two waves came and — boom, boom — they were up in our lap,” Linkogle said.

The children survived the experience with minor cuts and were returned to their supervising adults, Linkogle said.

“It is without a doubt that Isaac and James saved the three visitors,” reads a Longboat Key Fire Rescue commendation awarded to Brownman and Linkogle. “If they did not act as quickly as they did the outcome would not have been positive.”