Lilly pads rest on Fourtown Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area near Ely, Minnesota. (Jeffrey Phelps / Getty Images)
By Amanda Thomason September 10, 2021 at 11:56am
A man in Eagan, Minnesota, is alive thanks to the quick actions of good Samaritans and Eagan police after he experienced a medical emergency and crashed into a body of water.
The incident took place around 1 p.m. when the unnamed driver had a seizure and his car careened into a nearby pond.
“The man’s vehicle accelerated down the wrong side of Hwy 13 and down a hill into a 7ft deep holding pond,” the Eagan Police Department posted on Facebook Tuesday.
“Officers happened to be in the area and were able to immediately respond when onlookers called 911.”
When they got to the scene, the car was sinking. The driver was unconscious. Police lost no time removing their gear and swimming out to the vehicle.
“Officers were able to free the man from the car just as it was about to be fully submerged,” the post continued.
“They held the man above water as he regained consciousness and moved him to the shoreline. The man appeared to be confused and initially resisted officers efforts to lift him to safety. Officers reassured the man and were eventually able to get him up the hill and into an ambulance.
“This is the second vehicle water rescue this summer and despite the great risk to themselves, officers have courageously jumped in to save a person’s life. A special thanks to Officers Justin Boughton, Sean Farnham (second rescue of the summer), and Joshua Sannes for their heroic efforts and undoubtedly saving of a life.”
The man was taken to a hospital and was reported to be in stable condition.
“At that point your instincts and training just takes over and just react,” Officer Justin Boughton later told KMSP-TV during an interview.
“The main thing was to try to, you know, keep him above water.”
“Just right — right place, right time, I guess,” Officer Sean Farnham added.
“It’s always good … feeling when we can actually help somebody and, you know this is a prime example of where we can see that.
“He needed help, we actually provided that help that he needed.”
Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she’s strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.
As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn’t really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she’s had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children’s books with her husband, Edward.
Location
Austin, Texas
Languages Spoken
English und ein bißchen Deutsch
Topics of Expertise
Faith, Animals, Cooking