A Virginia man has filed a lawsuit against the police and lifeguard who saved his life after he attempted to drown himself following a bipolar episode in 2016. Mateusz Fijalkowski claims that he was underwater for over two minutes while the eight police officers stood by and watched. At one point they even stopped the lifeguard from jumping into the water to pull him out.
Police claimed they had a good reason for standing by as he drowned. They said that his actions put the lifeguard and officers at risk of being pulled underwater by Fijalkowski if they attempted to rescue him.
Police officers were called to the pool because he was acting erratically and ripped the wristband off a female patron, telling her she could not swim in the pool. After a confrontation with police, Fijalkowski walked into the deep end of the pool and grabbed two vents to hold himself underwater. Police decided to wait until he stopped moving before they would allow the lifeguard to jump in an save him.
“The police allowed me to sink before their eyes,” Fijalkowski wrote in an email. “I’m glad that in the end they realized that they shouldn’t let me drown, but I don’t thank them for letting me die, clinically, before their eyes.”
When Fijalkowski was pulled from the water, he was not breathing and had no pulse. He was rushed to the hospital where he spent a week before being transferred to the psychiatric unit where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He incurred over $100,000 in medical bills, which is why he decided to file the lawsuit.
Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said his officers followed proper procedure to save Fijalkowski while protecting themselves and the lifeguard. He cannot believe that his department is being sued for saving Fijalkowski's life.
"They saved his life - he did not die," Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler said in an interview. "You're going to sue someone for saving your life?"
Photo: Getty Images