RitcheyRch
08-31-2006, 05:53 AM
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/9749904/detail.html
PUEBLO, Colo. -- Bystanders rescued a Colorado woman from her sport utility vehicle last weekend after floodwaters trapped her inside.
The water flooded the Pueblo street and carried the SUV down the road in as much as 10 feet of water.
Bystanders swam out to rescue the woman, Charlene de Herrera, 35, after she didn't get out of the SUV.
Just coming home from work, de Herrera was still in her Wendy's uniform. She was trapped inside the SUV and couldn't swim. All four windows were shut tight as it sank.
The first to reach her was a doctor. But try as he did, the stick he was beating a window with was no match for the safety glass.
And then, de Herrera was gone.
Almost a full minute went by before Howard Absetz, an 43-year-old unemployed store manager, somehow reached through Charlene's front window.
"To actually feel her grasp my arm was a real shock," Absetz said. "And then the second time she grasped my arm, I knew right then I could get her out."
Absetz was able to pull her out of the water.
However, when the car was towed from the water, all four windows were still closed. It is unclear how they opened enough to let her out and then closed again.
De Herrera said she is grateful to all of her rescuers, and promises to learn to swim.
PUEBLO, Colo. -- Bystanders rescued a Colorado woman from her sport utility vehicle last weekend after floodwaters trapped her inside.
The water flooded the Pueblo street and carried the SUV down the road in as much as 10 feet of water.
Bystanders swam out to rescue the woman, Charlene de Herrera, 35, after she didn't get out of the SUV.
Just coming home from work, de Herrera was still in her Wendy's uniform. She was trapped inside the SUV and couldn't swim. All four windows were shut tight as it sank.
The first to reach her was a doctor. But try as he did, the stick he was beating a window with was no match for the safety glass.
And then, de Herrera was gone.
Almost a full minute went by before Howard Absetz, an 43-year-old unemployed store manager, somehow reached through Charlene's front window.
"To actually feel her grasp my arm was a real shock," Absetz said. "And then the second time she grasped my arm, I knew right then I could get her out."
Absetz was able to pull her out of the water.
However, when the car was towed from the water, all four windows were still closed. It is unclear how they opened enough to let her out and then closed again.
De Herrera said she is grateful to all of her rescuers, and promises to learn to swim.