By Delayna Earley
The Island News
An officer with the Port Royal Police Department saved a 23-year-old woman who was apparently attempting to commit suicide at Sands Beach.
Officer Karina Fraire-Galindo was patrolling Sands Beach on April 23, at around 6:30 p.m., when she noticed a woman on the floating dock who appeared to be in distress.
She parked her patrol vehicle to check on her as she received a dispatch call about a female at the Sands who was threatening suicide.
Officer Fraire-Galindo approached the woman who was crying and upset while standing on the far edge of the dock.
The officer then tried to talk the woman back away from the edge of the dock, but the woman began to resist the officer’s attempt to help her and jumped into the water.
Removing her body armor and weapon, Officer Fraire-Galindo jumped into the water and was able to grab the woman and swim with her back to the shoreline where two bystanders were able to help them get out of the water.
The woman was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital by Beaufort County EMS where she received treatment.
Officer Fraire-Galindo is a retired Marine who joined the Port Royal Police Department in September 2023.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
