LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
PARIS — On Saturday, Oct. 5, tragedy nearly struck Paris. An elderly woman accidentally drove her car into the West Lake at Twin Lakes Park and was on the verge of drowning. In an act that many claim is at the hands of God himself, three female bystanders jumped into action to save the woman’s life.
“They just jumped in and helped her get out. They were like angels,” Christina Drollinger, a witness at the scene, said. “I heard (the car) hit the water, and I yelled at my husband that someone just went in.”
The moment the car struck the water, Anika Currie, Kaitlyn Balch and Korey Balch ran into the lake in an effort to help the driver.
“I go over and the girls jumped in the water. They were already in the water by the time I got over there and they were trying to get her out. I called 911 and they said they were on the way… It freaked me out,” Drollinger said.
“We had heard a car rev up pretty good, but when we looked over, it had rolled and stopped right at the cement barrier. So we were like ‘Okay, it stopped.’ Not even probably 10 seconds later, we just heard it, the big splash,” Korey Balch said. “We all took off running and I called 911 on the way over there. I know other people were calling around too… We just ran and jumped in and swam out there.”
“It was just kind of instant. I handed my 18-month-old to my 11-year-old and just took off running and stripping off everything I could,” Currie said. “I saw that it was an elderly lady. I just got into the water and dove as fast as I could. I was able to swim up to her window and by this point, Kaitlyn and Korey were behind me in the water too. When I got to her window, I asked her, ‘Can you give me your arms? Can I help you out?’”
The women quickly realized that the driver they were trying to save had a walking device in her passenger seat and would not be able to swim or walk without assistance.
“I had been trained that you don’t open the door and that it can make the car flood with water and tilt to where it traps the passengers,” Currie explained.
In a desperate attempt to slow the sinking of the car and help the driver, the women worked together to push the car up out of the water. After multiple tries and several angles, the car was not heeding their commands.
“Where she was at the lake, there was nothing underneath us to get any sort of grip. Kaitlyn was really talking to her, supporting and comforting her. Korey was at the front pulling on the tire walls and I was behind (the vehicle), trying to push it as close as we could back to the shoreline,” said Currie. “Pretty quickly she started saying ‘Oh honey, the water, the water.’ It was so fast. She was under so fast. All of us were desperate to get her out, but she was completely submerged really quickly.”
Korey Balch also described the attempts to pull the driver out of the sinking Mitsubishi Outlander and the moment the trio realized they weren’t going to be able to pull or push the vehicle to safety.
“She had her window down and we yelled for her to get her seatbelt off, so it wouldn’t get stuck on her,” she said. “Then we took turns trying to get her out, but none of us could get her out at first. Then right when it went under, and she was under for like 45 seconds, we had one last Hail Mary.”
Currie was that Hail Mary.
“When (Kaitlyn and Korey) said her seatbelt was off. At that point, she’d been under so long I didn’t know if I could help. It felt like an eternity. It was probably closer to 45 seconds at this point, but it felt long,” Currie said. “There was something that came over me. I had this moment of defeat, and I thought ‘I don’t want to hurt her, but I can’t leave her.’ So I was able to go under and get an angle just enough and put my feet onto it. I got up above the surface and said, ‘I think I got her.’”
“If (Kaitlyn and Korey) hadn’t been in the water with me, I don’t think I could have supported her weight by myself. I was so glad they were there. They were able to support her, and I got behind her head. We backed over to the shore and when we got there, I was afraid of (her having) a neck injury. I said ‘Can you breathe? Can you breathe?’ She said she was breathing,” Currie said.
EMS arrived at the same time the women pulled the driver to the shore.
“They got there so quickly. They were right there at the shore, and they were able to get her out and make sure she was okay. I don’t think I could have gotten to the shore by myself without (Kaitlyn and Korey),” Currie said. “I don’t know what it was. I think it was God that gave me the strength to get her out. I am just so glad that she’s okay.”
When the women got back to shore, they immediately went back to their children who watched the entire event unfold from the safety of dry land.
“My son asked me, ‘Why would you do that if you can’t swim very well?’ I said ‘I still know how to swim. I wouldn’t do anything to get hurt or be taken from you for the rest of your life, but someone needed to help her,’” Kaitlyn Balch said.
“You never really know what you can do until you’re in that situation, but having people that you love and care about watching you while people you love and care about are going in as well. You just really don’t know what you’re capable of. We’re terrible swimmers, but we made it through,” said Korey Balch.
Teamwork, determination and selflessness drove the rescue to be a success.
“It was a total team effort. I'm just glad that everyone helped. It was a happy, happy ending. I don’t even know her (the driver’s) name, but I just want to hug her. I’m so glad she’s okay,” Currie said. “We have some good first responders in Paris. They were on the dot…I’m glad that it all worked out like it did. It was a real team effort and just a real God thing.”
The driver of the SUV was taken to the hospital for non-emergent care. First responders agree the selfless act of the women played a vital role in the rescue of the driver.
“Those bystanders were the ones that saved her. If they hadn’t been here, it’d be a different story,” EMS Manager Adam Webb said.
Commissioner Doug Hasler also recognized the brave act.
“I know for a fact that had they not taken the action they did, the woman would most likely have not survived. They had her out of the water, and (the vehicle) was submerged by the time the First Responders were able to get there,” he said.
Currie, Kaitlyn Balch and Korey Balch will be recognized with “The Everyday Hero Award” for their heroism at the next Paris City board meeting at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 15.