Police in Texas rescue a woman from the water Jeep car hours after the car somehow plunged into a lake last week.
A fisherman at Lake O’ the Pines in Marion County, Texas, called police Friday after discovering the top of the Jeep.the king came out of the water about 40 feet from the boat ramp, CBS reported.
In case you lost it:
The police arrived 18 minutes after the initial call but determined that it was too dangerous to wade into the water. Instead, they called a vandal service to pull the Jeep out of the water, which is when they discovered a woman inside was still alive.
The unnamed woman was taken into a boat and brought to shore so she could warm up on one of the cruisers. She told police she wasn’t sure how long she was in the lake, but it was likely hours. She is taken to the hospital for treatment of hypothermia. It was later revealed that she had been reported missing in Longview, Texas, 25 miles south of Marion County.
Police will not share details of the case, as it is still under active investigation. But hours and hours in cold water sounds like something that could kill you. How did she survive? Even with a good pocket of air, cold alone cannot be compatible with life.
Insiders spoke to a survival expert about the incident, who said the cold rain in Marion County that morning could have saved her life:
Cat Bigney, a survival expert who once taught at Boulder Outdoor Survival School for decades, told Insider that it’s not unheard of for a person sitting in a submerged vehicle to survive hours underwater, although it’s rare.
She says a car submerged in water is a “survival emergency” because brain death usually begins within 4 minutes of hypoxia.
However, she said there have been cases where people have survived for hours or been revived, especially when the water is cold. “This is a rare physiological situation that is still being studied,” says Bigney, citing potential explanations such as metabolic arrest.
Of course, if your car is submerged in water, you’ll want to get out as quickly as possible. Opening a door can be a problem due to the pressure of the water when submerged, so go outside by the window. — either by lowering it or breaking it — is your next move.
