Gaetz's Black Eye, a Shining Example

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, certainly wasn't the main focus at Attorney General Bill McCollum's press conference today, but he caught my attention.

As soon as he stepped up to the podium to talk about his support for filing suit against the federal government for passing health care reform, I noticed a strange dark shadow over his left eye.

Sen. Gaetz had a shiner!

After the press conference was over I asked him what happened, and he told me it happened while he was rescuing a girl from drowning. I though he was making a joke, pretending it came from something much more dramatic than what really happened. I thought he was trying to get a reaction out of me before he told me he had an accident with a piece of lawn equipment or something. So, I joked back, "Oh, how noble of you."

It only took a few seconds for me to realize he wasn't joking.

He proceeded to tell me how a girl had gone after a dog that had jumped into the water near his house. The girl, then found herself in trouble, and Gaetz responded to screams for help.

He quickly coordinated with a man who had a boat to go rescue her. As the boat approached, Gaetz told the man to kill the engine. The operator, Gaetz said, kicked the throttle in reverse and the sudden stop propelled the senator into what ever object was in front of him, giving him a black eye.

Gaetz assured me the boat operator was a very "nice guy" with only the best intentions, and in the end, they were able to save the girl and her dog and the only lasting damage was to his eye.

Whether or not you like his politics, it seems this senator from Niceville is a real-life hero... at least, to that girl and her dog.