Seconds from Disaster: Rescued from Submerged Car in McKenzie River

the rescue to her shortly afterwards. It was almost something very proud. Uh, I was on TV. I was rescued. You know, she was really proud of that. Did you see me? Starts now. A well-trained rescue team in an unfamiliar position following an hourslong mission to save a 71-year-old woman trapped in a vehicle on a rock ledge in the McKenzie River. Just incredible situation. My name is Lynn West. I'm the brother of Darla West who was rescued out of the Mackenzie River. We've always paid attention to the helicopters going up and down the coast, always in the news about rescues and it's amazing what they do. This low level close to the trees at nighttime with clouds over. I've not done anything uh to this extent. So, our night started off, we had a night duty trainer uh hoisting and we just got back from that. Cleaned up the helicopter and we're debriefing how that evolution went when we got got a text from my operations officer that had a case of a car in the Mackenzie River and a position. And that's kind of all we had to go off of initially. We launched out of here and started heading north. And just as the clouds started to lift above the mountains, as we went more north to that good weather, we just started creeping over to the east, trying to get to the valley as quickly as we could. As we got hovering over the vehicle, our initial plan that we talked with as a crew was to put the rescue swimmer on the leeward side of the car where the water should be calmer. As we got overhead and the swimmer got to the door, the swimmer noticed that the water was not being redirected by the car. The car was wedged on the rocks and water was actually flowing underneath the car as well. The swimmer also recognized that the car had a sunroof. You are clearing light right here. As we got closer in our hover though, I noticed that the car had a sunroof on it. And so, and I had already unplugged from ICS at this point. And so, I leaned back to Jacob and I said, "Hey, you know, it's got a sunroof. Just put me on the hood. Just let's aim for the hood of the car. [Applause] Once I got my feet planted on the hood, I could feel the car moving and I then at that point I knew that wherever it was in the river, it wasn't stable and it wasn't guaranteed to stay there. [Applause] I had to switch gears to Okay, move quickly. If the car starts to go, I can't go with it. I'm attached to the helicopter still. So the I knew if the car started to go, I would have to slide off and they'd have to pick me up and we'd have to start this thing all over again. Scene was really well lit up. There was fire department was on both sides of the river. You know, normally you get on a case and there's really nobody there. Going through my head at this part, uh, initially I was like, these cars on the side of the road are going to get some great pictures of the helicopter flying by was the initial like trying to keep myself calm. This is the crash ax. It's kept inside the helicopter uh for means of egress out of the helicopter in case of a crash. I attached this to my harness so that way once I get down there I could be handsree. I didn't have to hold on to it. But once I was ready for it, hit the glass a little bit and said, "Hey, if you can hear me, keep your eyes closed and look down for me." And then I just started smashing. Easy back. Made sure all the edges were clear. So, I smashed it with this end first and then I grabbed this end and just kind of dug it in all around. We prepared that that she wouldn't be responsive when we got down there. But one of the best uh calms I heard that night is when the flight mech said he's talking to the survivor and she's moving. And I knew that she was still responsive and we were going to get her out of there. She was super happy to see me. She goes, "Are you getting me out of here?" And I said, "Yeah, we're getting out of here right now." Coming up, you are clearing right here. When we brought her into the helicopter, you always, you know, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. But once we got her in and saw that, you know, she was pretty much relatively unscathed, just a little shaken up, it was a big relief. I put her in my seat and I'm I'm getting her all buckled up in the seat belt there. And as I'm buckling her in, she just reaches out and gives me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Little things like that just make it all worth it for sure. It means everything. Teamwork all around. What we do requires a lot of trust. Love and trust these guys. We go out there every day and execute it so that we get it down picture perfect. [Music] You've seen the footage though, correct? Have you seen I saw it once is all. Do you want to see it again or Sure. Wow, that's amazing. It really is. It's great. Yeah, it's doubtful that she would still be with us if they hadn't. I think uh from what I've heard then um they were unsure how to get her out if they hadn't been able to fly her out. The thing that stands out the most I guess was like being down in that very dangerous situation. Rapids beneath us and mountains on either side, tall trees at night, fog rolling in. The car just in the water was like something that'll probably stick with me for the rest of my life. I joined the Coast Guard to to do this mission right here to be a helicopter pilot to go save a life. You know, when you first go on your first star case and you pull someone out of the water, you pull someone out of a car, you save someone's life. I was ecstatic. I was I was smiling ear to ear. Pretty special people. Thank you. [Music]