Joe Wright, 74, had known Shawn Thomas since he was a 7-year-old Bible school student at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, picking up and dropping off the boy and his peers as the church bus driver.
Last fall, the little boy who climbed onto his bus every weekday during summer vacation became Wright’s pastor at the same church.
On Friday, when Thomas asked for help, Wright didn’t hesitate.
Hours before, Seminole Fire Rescue responded to a disabled vessel taking on water with occupants onboard on Friday around 2:17 p.m. Deputies found Thomas, 39, and his friend Alexandra Dumervil, 37, in Lake Seminole at 10015 Park Boulevard and brought them both safely to shore, Pinellas sheriff’s deputies said in a media release.
