One heroic woman put herself in harm's way to stop a father and his young daughter from drowning.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The incident occurred at St. John's Park in Winnipeg. On the evening of August 24, police received a call about a small child who had fallen into the Red River section of the park. However, when officers arrived, they learned that the debacle had already been rectified.
Woman Heroically Saves Father & Daughter From Drowning
A woman named Jaclyn Morrissette courageously threw herself into the river to save the young girl. When police arrived, she had already begun CPR procedures on the girl.
Morrissette told CTV that when she noticed the young girl struggling, she immediately went to the playground area to notify her parents. As expected, the girl's father rushed to the middle of the river to save her. Jaclyn noticed that something was wrong when he did not come up out of the water after about ten seconds. At that point, she rushed in to save both the father and daughter.
According to the Good Samaritan, amid the father's panic while going in to save her, he actually began to pull her further down into the water. That's when Jaclyn knew that she had to kick things into "overdrive."
"So I had flipped her onto her back, and I put her on my chest, and I started swimming backwards," Morrissette shared. "When I was swimming, I was also pumping her stomach to try and get any water that was in, out, just to help [make] it easier so that when I got to shore they could start CPR."
When the police arrived, they were able to transport the girl to a local hospital. She is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. When learning that the girl was expected to survive, Morrissette told CTV that she was overcome with emotion.
"When I heard that, my heart skipped a beat, and I started crying," she added. "I was so relieved because that was the main purpose of me going in the water. If the father hadn't gone in the water, I still would have. My first instinct was to save her."
