Dramatic rescue caught on tape

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A cyclist is recovering tonight after a taking a spill and falling off a bridge in Pungo this morning.
Firefighters used ropes to climb down, fish him out and save the man's life.

The Pungo Ferry Bridge spans the North Landing River, a narrow waterway surrounded by dense marshes in every direction.

Sunday morning the picturesque bridge became the scene of a rescue when firefighters say a cyclist fell over the bridge plummeting nearly 50 feet to the wetlands below when he was hit from behind by another cyclist.

A Ten On Your Side viewer and retired firefighter gave us this video of rescue crews at work. One rescuer heads over the side of the bridge to reach the stranded cyclist below who had managed to climb onto one of the bridge's pylons.

Firefighters say he was injured, but in stable condition. Over the course of the next two hours firefighters worked their way down the bridge anchored from a ladder truck on top.

An ambulance waited nearby with a stretcher ready to race the cyclist to the hospital when he cleared the guardrail. Inch by inch firefighters winched the cyclist up. The second he was over the side of the bridge firefighters grabbed him and brought him to safety.

An ambulance took him to Virginia Beach General Hospital as his father thanked rescue crews for their work.