PARIS, Ill. (WCIA) — For four women in Edgar County, they’ll never forget Oct. 5, 2024. It’s the day three of them jumped into action, saving the other as her car was headed for Twins Lake Park in Paris.
Anika Currie, Korey Balch and Kaitlyn Balch were all playing by the playground with their children when they said they heard an engine revving behind their backs. When they turned around, they saw a car with an older woman inside shooting into the lake.
“We all feared the worst,” Currie said.
Next thing you know, they were calling 911 and racing toward the emergency.
“There was no hesitation whatsoever. We looked at each other, took off running,” Korey Balch said.
Meanwhile, the car was sinking deeper and deeper. Currie believes the woman was completely submerged underwater for 45-60 seconds.
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But all three of them worked together until they finally succeeded in freeing the woman from her driver’s seat.
“It was like one Hail Mary,” Currie said. “I was able to get my arm around her, I shouted to the girls ‘I think I’ve got her’ but the effort to get her out, it was great because we got her and realized she was conscious.”
They were all in the lake for about 15 minutes before the rescue successfully happened, but they said it felt so much longer.
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That’s where first responders met them and took it from there.
“It was like the best feeling ever that she was okay,” Currie said.
But for her, this was all a full-circle moment. Her dad passed away in a drowning accident when she was only six days old.
“To be able to prevent that same outcome for someone else, it feels really good,” she described.
They’ve all been in touch with the woman they saved and said she is doing well.
A recent study shows 350-400 people die every year in North America after their cars submerge in water. That accounts for about 10% of all drownings.
If you ever find yourself in an emergency similar to this, safety experts know it’s best to take your seatbelts off, open your windows and get out as soon as possible.
In this situation, everyone is lucky that this protocol was followed.
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