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Young Heroine Challenges Icy River to Rescue Family
EASTON, CT (December 18, 2006) – Kyla Trinklein didn’t have to think twice before diving into the frigid Saw Mill River and rescue a family of four whose car had slid into the water.
“All I wanted was the people out,” says 20-year-old Trinklein, who is a member of the Covenant Church of Easton.
Trinklein and four teenage friends were returning from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when the accident happened near Yonkers, New York. She says she only saw the splash, but her passengers reported seeing the vehicle do a 360-degree turn before plunging into the river.
 The car stopped several feet from shore in water that ranges from four to five feet deep. Water began filling the vehicle and was covering the steering wheel.
Trinklein pulled her own car to the side of the road, quickly jumped out, and then plunged into the river. “I knew I was a strong swimmer,” says Trinklein, who leapt into the water barefoot because her socks and shoes had gotten wet while watching the parade.
While Trinklein worked her way to the car, one of the other women called 911. Other cars stopped and as many as 15 people formed a human chain to help bring the family to safety, some attending to members of the family once they reached the riverbank. Others held onto the car bumper to keep the vehicle from sliding farther into the river.
The family tried unsuccessfully to open the doors several times before the father was finally able to roll down his window. Trinklein climbed onto the hood of the car and the father handed her the toddlers through the open window.
The three-year-old and the one-year-old had been standing on the backseat to keep from getting wet, Trinklein says. Rescuers kept them dry even after the children were handed through the window and passed along to shore.
That wasn’t easy for Trinklein, who said, “I’m five-foot three inches and the water was up to my chest.”
Getting the mother out proved more difficult. “She was on her cell phone as we were pulling her through the window,” Trinklein says. “She said she was trying to call her mother.”
“We were telling her to put the phone down, but she wouldn’t,” adds Trinklein, who quipped, “Typical New Yorker!”
The mother told Trinklein afterwards, “When I saw you running, I knew I was going to be safe.”
Trinklein also carried the father to shore, but she doesn’t remember how. “I just remember holding him the whole way,” she says. “A lot of it was a blur. The adrenaline just takes over.”
She figures it was the adrenaline that enabled her to work in the nearly freezing river. “I don’t remember feeling it,” says Trinklein. “The only time I was cold was after I was out of the water for about 10 minutes and then I started shaking.”
A spokesman for the Westchester County Department of Public Safety told the York News-Times, “You could drown in less water than that . . . so they did a good thing. They should be proud of themselves, and we are proud of them.”
The family was treated at a local hospital and released, according to news reports. Trinklein declined any treatment. “I just wanted to get home for Thanksgiving.”
Before heading home, the four girls were able to change into dry clothes they brought with them on the trip. They departed, knowing the family was rescued only shortly before the river claimed the vehicle. “The car was completely under when we left,” Trinklein says.
Trinklein says she heard from the family after the story appeared in a local newspaper. “The three-year-old reminds them every night not to forget us in their prayers.”
Church secretary Jill Monroe says the story of the girls’ bravery proves “there are still great young people in this country.”
Trinklein attends the local Western Connecticut State University, works two jobs, and has continued to be active in her congregation as a youth group leader, also working with the Emmaus Youth Retreat. Two years ago, she traveled to Kenya on a church mission trip.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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