Woman rescued after falling into river following crash in Central Florida
Nov 28, 2024
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) – A bad crash in Central Florida caused a woman to fall from an interstate bridge and into a river. She was saved thanks to a high-tech save.
The incident happened on Monday in Seminole County.
“I fell into the water,” said a caller. “I fell off the bridge. A car hit me into the water, off the bridge.”
There was a collision, then there was a second crash, which caused the woman to splash down into the St. Johns River.
“A semi just hit the truck that hit us,” said the caller.
Her rescue was not an easy task.
Officials called in the Seminole County Fire Crew and their technology for help.
“We were able to confirm the location with the drone, and then we were able to direct the crews from Wayside Park over to her location,” said Lt. Matt Lallathin with the Seminole County Fire Department.
According to Lallanthin, they’ve been using drones for about four years now to assist in rescues that almost seemed impossible to pull off.
“Surveying damage after hurricanes. We can use it for finding lost hikers in the woods,” he said. “We can use it for multifaceted response of things.”
During the incident, the woman managed to crawl on top of a bridge support base.
“We were able to fly the drone down, get a picture of her, or a visual with her with the infrared camera and the thermal imaging, so we were able to make sure she was still moving and that she was responding,” Lallanthin said.
It was much better than peering over the edge of a bridge, 60 feet down in the blackness of night.
“Definitely gave us more information than we had prior to putting eyes on her with the drone,” he said.
Despite the fall, the woman who was rescued did not suffer major injuries.