JUPITER, Fla. — A Jupiter police report recently released outlined the electrocution at Harbourside Place and the chaos that ensued. It also highlighted the helping hands and the good Samaritans who risked their lives trying to help save a father and children.
WPTV spoke with Jennifer Fisler, who said she was having lunch at Harbourside Place with her husband when Nate Davenport, 45, was electrocuted in the fountain.
Fisler said she and her husband both tried to help. Fisler's husband jumped in and she said she ran to try to shut off the power.
"It's all we can think about," she said.
Fisler told WPTV they heard cries for help.
"My husband and I went running, and my husband saw before I did, a man and children at the fountain," she said. "He went running in. The other bystanders told him not to get in because they were getting shocked. He went in anyway. ... I went running and I found the shutoff switch. I shut off the power, and my husband was able, with the help of his friend and a waitress, to get Mr. Davenport out, where his friend started administering CPR."
Fisler said instinct kicked in, leading her to the power switch.
"I saw the sign and I was screaming to have somebody help me," she said. "I saw a hose spigot and I went behind this bush, saw the big breaker box and I just shut it, praying that was it. Because I didn't know they were being electrocuted at that point. I thought maybe he was stuck in a drain."
Fisler said her husband is doing OK physically.
"He was only in there for about 30 seconds," Fisler said. "Before I got the power shut off, he was getting zapped, but it was nothing like everybody experienced, probably because he had a rubber-soled flip flop and he was only in there a very short period of time."
She said she sees this tragedy through the lens of a mother's eyes.
"People are desperately trying to help them (the children)," she explained. "There is no preparing you for that. There is no unseeing it. … It's horrible. It's horrible. These poor children that lost their dad saving them, a family. I don't know these people. I have never met them before. I feel like I know them because it was so much trauma."
Now, Fisler is calling for legislative action.
"I hope that there can be some glimmer of change for people so this never happens again," she said. "They need to change the laws or the inspections."
She's finding hope in the power of humanity.
"I hope that someday these kids get to see, in the midst of all of the horribleness, because that's really what it is, it's an unthinkable tragedy for this family, that people weren't standing by with their phones," she said. "People got involved and tried to help. They tried to help their dad. They tried to help their kids."
Harbourside Place released the following statement Wednesday:
"This is an ongoing investigation, but Harbourside has never been made aware of any previous safety concerns or issues in the amphitheater area. Thousands of children have enjoyed this space without incident until the tragic events on Oct. 22."
