Thank you, JoeProBono
Posted on 01/03/2012 6:52:09 AM PST by marktwain
As many as 10 heroic people jumped into an icy Utah river to help save three trapped children after a car plunged down a 10-foot embankment and flipped over.
The rescuers helped turn the Honda Accord upright in the Logan River, and one man shot out the car’s window with a handgun and cut a seat belt to help free the children after Saturday afternoon accident, patrol Lt. Steve Winward said.
The driver, Roger Andersen, 46, of Logan, lost control as he tried to brake while heading northbound on U.S. 89 during slick conditions.
His 9-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son were trapped along with a second 9-year-old girl.
'He was panicked, doing everything he could to get in through the doors, but they wouldn’t budge,' said rescuer Chris Willden, who had jumped into the water with his own father after coming upon the crash scene.
Willden, a Department of Defense contractor with a background in law enforcement, shot out one window with his Glock handgun after trying unsuccessfully to open windows and doors.
As he reached upward searching for arms and legs, he felt nothing.
'I remember thinking to myself, ‘You’re going to see some dead kids, get ready,’' Willden said. “I’ve got three of my own and it was going to be (an awful) start to the New Year.”
That’s when he turned to see six or so other men scrambling down the bank into the water. Together they pushed up on the vehicle enough so they could see in through the windows.
One of the girls had found an air pocket and was breathing fine but was trapped in her seat belt. Willden cut it with a folding pocket knife and pulled her from the rear passenger window.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
WOW, I didn’t hear anything a out this aspect of the rescue on the news.
b got lost?
It was on Fox yesterday about the guy shooting out the window
Excellent reminder that guns and knives are just tools and that their use is determined by the holder.
Thank God for people like this who are willing to get involved. Obviously no attorneys were present to advise them of potential liability.
Fortunately, the Good Samaritan law is also in place, at least here in Ohio.
Are UK readers realizing that with their country’s gun/knife ban, there might be no survivors?
The same rescue in New Jersey would have resulted in the arrest of the rescuer for weapons possession of the gun and knife.
a knife, a clean hanky, and a gun: stuff a guy can use! -ted nugent
The gun was handy, but the knife was essential.
My wife keeps a glass breaker tool in the center compartment of her car, the tool also has a seatbelt cutter. She freaks out at the thought of being trapped underwater without being able to get out. I don’t get it, as most roads we travel near water have shallow streams. Maybe she’s scared of my driving. I carry a folding pocket knife, figure I can break a window with that.
The Virgin river was only a couple of feet deep, but the water was ice cold and swift. The kids would have been done for in short order. Two had to be resusitated as it was.
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