Emergency personnel and members of the East Ridge Fire Rescue team stage to rescue Tim Nelson, a stranded man, from West Chickamauga Creek on February 4, 2016.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/4/16. Tim Nelson pulled from the water by East Ridge Fire Marshall Kenny Custer and East Ridge Fire Engineer Thomas Finch after he became stranded in the rising waters of West Chickamauga Creek near Camp Jordan on Thursday, February 4, 2016. Nelson is homeless and was swept 300-yards from the bridge he was living under suffering a minor case of Hypothermia. 
Emergency personnel and members of the East Ridge Fire Rescue team stage to rescue Tim Nelson, a stranded man, from West Chickamauga Creek on February 4, 2016.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/4/16. Tim Nelson is transported by ambulance to Parkridge East after being reduced by East Ridge Fire Rescue members when he became stranded in the rising waters of West Chickamauga Creek near Camp Jordan on Thursday, February 4, 2016. Nelson and Sandy are homeless and Nelson was swept 300-yards from the bridge he was living under suffering a minor case of Hypothermia. Tim Nelson ran up the slope alongside West Chickamauga Creek, shoving away entangling brush with his hands, his eyes fixed ahead on the parking lot where a woman waited.
He hurdled a guardrail, the last barrier in his way, before finally reaching the pavement where he embraced her. She wrapped her arms around his shivering body and held tight.
Emergency officials rescued the homeless man from the East Ridge creek on Thursday after rushing water swept him 300 yards downstream from underneath the bridge he calls home.
Rescuers speculated he may have been reaching for something when he fell into the water.
The ordeal lasted more than an hour after Nelson's wife, Sandy Nelson, returned from an errand to find her husband was no longer at the bridge.
With West Chickamauga Creek more than a foot above flood stage Wednesday, the current swept him into danger, sparking a rescue effort that involved several agencies and more than a dozen emergency workers.
Rescuers said they found him clinging to a limb about 300 yards from the shore.
"These creeks are totally abnormal right now," East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams told reporters who had gathered at the scene. A storm earlier this week dumped almost 3 inches of rain in the Chattanooga area, causing flooding in some parts in the region.
The East Ridge fire and police departments were first on the scene and called the Hamilton County Special Tactics and Rescue Service for backup. Ambulance crews waited at the parking lot with medical gear and a stretcher ready to treat the man, whom they presumed would be suffering from hypothermia from the cold water.
But when the fire department boat carrying the man reached shore, he leaped from the craft and set off for the parking lot.
After allowing him to embrace his wife, medical personnel ushered him to the stretcher and wheeled him to a waiting ambulance as he held the woman's hand.
The crew asked her to step aside so they could load him onboard.
"She can come," he said. "Let her come. She's my wife."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.