Two St. Louis County police officers waded into a frigid pond to rescue a driver and a firefighter following a crash last week.
The incident happened shortly after 4:15 p.m. Monday when a truck drove into a pond in a north area of St. Louis County, KMOV-TV reports. The Black Jack Fire Department was one of the agency that responded to the call, and a firefighter jumped into the water to try to save a trapped driver.
When the firefighter and driver went underwater with the truck, St. Louis County Police Officers Victoria Sarver and Don Shultz shed their gear and went into the water to help. As the officers made their way out to the truck, the firefighter surfaced with the driver, and the first responders worked together to get everyone to safety.
The officers' heroic efforts came about despite the cold temperatures and neither of the officers having had any police water rescue training. Sarver told KMOV that she kept reminding herself to concentrate on her breathing as a way to deal with the shock of the cold water temperatures.
“It’s my instinct when someone is yelling for help to go help,” Sarver told KMOV. “That’s my job and I do it every day. I don’t think I thought of anything other than I need to go and help who needs it.”
