When a woman in a Jeep plunged into the Potomac River on Tuesday evening, a group of good Samaritans leaped into action. News4’s Joseph Olmo spoke to an Army colonel about how they saved the driver who couldn’t swim.
When a woman in a Jeep plunged into the Potomac River on Tuesday evening, a group of good Samaritans jumped into action to save her.
One of those good Samaritans, Army Col. Tony Marston, said the rescue effort reminded him that amazing people live in the area.
Marston happened to be in the right place at the right time. He was on a run along the Mount Vernon Trail when the woman in a Jeep Cherokee veered off the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
“As I turned around, I saw a small SUV going at high rate right into the river,” he said.
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“Instantly, me and a couple other bystanders immediately ran to the shore to kind of understand what was going on because we didn't know who was in the vehicle,” Marston said. “It was going so fast.”
On top of everything else, there was another problem: The driver couldn’t swim.
“Luckily, Park Police showed up… He had an orange rope. He handed it off to me,” Marston said. He gave one end of the rope to another rescuer named Javier.
“He was able to throw the rope to her. She caught it like a champ,” Marston said.
Marston, Javier and another man managed to pull the woman out.
“You could tell she was still afraid, but we told her, ‘grab on.’” Marson said.
The trio pulled. Video shows the group helping the woman out of the water and onto the shore.
“Just like a movie, the car flipped upright as she came off the vehicle and then sunk,” Marston said.
“The thing that I take away from this is the amazing people that are in this area. Like without hesitation – it wasn’t just me – there were several people that ran over there to help her out,” Marston said.
The woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation. She was the only person in the Jeep, according to officials.
There are no solid answers from U.S. Park Police on what caused the crash.
