Grundman puts himself at risk to save stranger

By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer

September 05, 2008 01:49 am

— Would you run into a burning building to save a stranger? If someone you didn’t know was being attacked by a wild animal, would you jump in? If an armed hoodlum is holding hostages, would you rush that person to try and ignore the obvious consequences?
Hopefully, you never have to find out. However, Mitch Grundman knows what he’ll do, he’s already been put to the test.
“If I was in that position, I’d want someone to help me out,” he said.
Grundman, a redshirt center on the Minnesota State men’s basketball team, and his teammates were in Barbados last weekend, playing some basketball, touring the island and taking a late “spring break.” Grundman and a couple of other players were walking along the beach on Saturday, hoping to take some pictures.
Grundman heard a swimmer yelling for help. About 100 feet from shore, the man was struggling against the current, in water too deep to touch bottom.
With no lifeguard experience, just a lifetime of boating and other water activities, Grundman immediate took off toward the man, not really considering what could happen to him.
“I kind of slowed down when I got close to him,” Grundman said. “I wanted to make sure he was calm. I didn’t want him to panic and pull me under.”
Grundman grabbed the man, who was about his age, with one arm and swam with the other until the 6-foot-10 Grundman was in close enough to shore to stand.
“It felt good to help him out,” Grundman said. “He just said thanks and he said he wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me so that made me feel good.”
Grundman has always seemed kind of quiet, though as a redshirt player who just practices and sits on the bench during games, it’s tough to be too vocal. Coach Matt Margenthaler, who was at the hotel pool at the time, said he was impressed that Grundman thought of others ahead of himself and happy that everything worked out.
“He grew up on lakes and is comfortable in the water,” Margenthaler said. “He was the right person at the right time to save another guy’s life. There were four guys there, and he was the one that reacted and didn’t think about the consequences.
“Mitch was a little shook up by the situation (right after it happened). It was a courageous thing to help that guy. It’s a trip Mitch will never forget.”
But would he have jumped in to save a stranger who was struggling some 100 yards offshore?
“I hope I would have done the same thing,” Margenthaler said. “But you don’t know until you’re in that situation. I hope if another person needs help, I’d help, but you never know.”
Grundman knows, and another tourist is pretty happy that the Mavericks’ center was there, putting his own welfare at risk to save a total stranger.

Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.

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