Tina Fey Says She ‘Saved A Man’s Life’ After Kayaking Accident

Actor, director and writer Tina Fey can add one more title to her resume: hero.

The former “30 Rock” star told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” Wednesday that she helped save someone’s life earlier this year near where her family had rented a house outside New York City to ride out the coronavirus pandemic.

The first morning at the new house, Fey said she was outside, looking at the Hudson River, when she heard a faint noise.

“I just hear something going ‘help, help’” she said. “I was like, is that ‘help?’ Or a bird?’”

To make sure that she wasn’t imagining it, Fey said she got her older daughter to listen. After a couple minutes, she heard the cries again.

Still not convinced, Fey had her husband, Jeff Richmond, come outside. He agreed the noise was a person ― not a bird ― and the family called the cops. 

“Our first day out at the house, we’re calling the cops at the height of the pandemic,” she said, as Fallon laughed.

A responding police officer also heard the noise, then set out to search for a person in trouble.

And ― to Fey’s apparent surprise ― police found someone in distress.

“The cops take off. And then we found out a couple of hours later that it was a guy who flipped a kayak in the Hudson and was floating,” she said.

“Are you serious?” Fallon exclaimed.

“He was floating ― no oar ― and they found him like a mile north,” Fey said.

“What is going on?” Fallon asked, both hands raised over his head. “Tina, you saved a man’s life!”

“I saved a man’s life!” Fey repeated as the audience cheered. “He doesn’t know that it was us, but isn’t that crazy?”

Fey finished the story with a joking bit of advice: “Never kayak.”