FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — A woman suffered "immediate paralysis" after she jumped feet first from a pontoon boat into very shallow water in the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.
The incident happened Sunday in Choctawhatchee Bay, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies say local first responders were called near the sea wall after the unidentified woman jumped from the anchored boat into the water.
"She experienced immediate paralysis to her lower extremities," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Crews with the sheriff's office, Fort Walton Beach Police Department and the Okaloosa Island Fire Department helped pull the woman out of the water. They said she was "alert and conscious" while being carried to a large float.
"We are sending prayers for her recovery," the sheriff's office said.
