We need to have more stories like this one

One of DSW Home's owners, Steve Mataro, played the part of "hero" when he rescued a drowning man. Mataro's neighbor was entertaining a couple from Houston when one of his guests, an older gentleman, got too close to the edge of the dock and fell into the canal. The older gentleman tried desperately to pull himself out of the water by using the ladder to the dock, but the ladder had broken in half some time ago.

Mataro was outside in his backyard with his family across the canal when the incident happened. When Mataro saw what was happening, he ran to his paddle boat and paddled furiously toward the old man. When he got close he jumped into the water, in a full suit never mind, and grabbed the guest by the back of the legs and squat pressed him onto the dock. While doing so his legs sunk about six inches in the mud and he had to pull his own legs out, having to part with both of his dress shoes, barely making it to the surface before running out of air. After checking to make sure everyone else was ok, he gave them his signature "thumbs up" and headed back across the canal.

The editor ended the story by saying. "Although it may seem like it, this really wasn't a story so much about Steve as it was about a neighbor helping another neighbor, coming to the neighbor's rescue so to speak, in a time of need."

By Patrick Graham

The Daily News

Published August 5, 2012