SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. – Civil Rights Lawyer Bakari Sellers is calling for a federal investigation into the cause of a deadly collapse of a boat dock gangway in Georgia, and the lack of resources on the Sapelo Island.
As a local investigation into what happened continues, families are telling horrible stories about the worst day of their lives.
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Regina Brinson recounted the horrors of falling into the fast-moving waters below after the gangway collapsed.
“And we got in the middle of that gangway, all I remember is hearing a crack,” Brinson said.
Brinson said she and her uncle were pushing Carlotta Mcintosh, 93, across the gangway in her wheelchair. Brinson said she regrets being unable to save either life.
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“All I remember is releasing the walker and Mrs. Carlotta went straight, fell straight down in the water,” she said.
Brinson said strong currents pushed everyone farther away from the ferry and her uncle grabbed her hand.
“But he grabbed my shirt too, and he kept pulling me and pulling me underwater, and I kept saying ‘I’m going to die.‘ I had to take his fingers one by one and peel them off of my shirt, and I floated back up the top, and I saw his face, and I said, ’What did I do. What did I do.‘”
Katrina Alexander just made it to the ferry when the gangway collapsed behind her.
”And I just stood there in awe, looking down at that water, and saw all those people, and it hit, me Regina, Regina, Regina, oh my God! Where is my Regina? Oh God please!‘” Alexander said.
Alexander’s daughter survived, but her 79-year-old brother Isaiah Thomas, and good friend, died.
“Right now we believe the government, and state partners has some responsibility,” Sellers said.
Sellers is representing several survivors of the incident. He said the trauma of the event, will leave emotional scarring for life.
”One of the tragic stories of a client we represent is a grandmother who literally had to reach in and save her 4-year-old grandson and shatter her arm. You know, you have stories like this, of people who were heroes and keeping other loved ones from dying, but still injured themselves," Seller said.
Georgia officials said the damaged gangway was removed and taken to a secured facility as part of the investigation. There were “no areas of concern” when the gangway was last inspected in December, according to investigators.