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Girl’s survival in trip over Warren dam a ‘miracle,’ fire chief says
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Warren fire chief calls it a “miracle” that a teen who floated on the currents down the Mahoning River on Monday afternoon went over the lowhead dam at Summit Street and survived.
The girl, who had been on a fishing trip with Trumbull County Children Services, jumped into the river in Packard Park and was rescued just south of the dam in Perkins Park.
The distance she traveled was about a half mile, and it’s likely she was in the frigid water about 15 minutes. The first 911 call came in at 5:56 p.m. She was pulled from the river at 6:12 p.m., according to the county 911 center.
“It’s really a miracle she survived,” Fire Chief Ken Nussle said. ”She’s the first person I’m aware of who has survived going over the lowhead dam.” He added that he’s aware of two or three others who did not survive such a trip in the past 20 years.
The girl was rescued by a bystander, Nussle said. A number of people learned of her getting caught up in the river current and watched for her in Perkins Park, Nussle said.
After she was safely on shore, she was wrapped in a blanket and taken to a local hospital. Nussle said his firefighters reported that the girl was extremely cold. Firefighters responded to the dam first, then got to Perkins Park about the time the girl was rescued.
Tim Schaffner, Children Services executive director, said the girl is in her younger teens and is in residential treatment at its facility. She was with a small group of residents on a fishing trip and was being supervised by a “one-on-one” worker when she “impulsively jumped in the river.”
Her one-on-one worker jumped in after her, Schaffner said. The worker apparently did not suffer any injuries, he said.
The girl “laughed the whole time down the river and whooped it up the whole time,” Schaffner said. She was checked out, and Schaffner said she was “medically cleared,” but he said he doesn’t know anything more specific about injuries.
“There are kids on our campus generally who have emotional and behavioral challenges due to their trauma histories,” Schaffner said, not discussing the specific child involved in the incident because of privacy laws.
Such children stay in residential care at Children Services, typically for a shorter time period than would be likely if they went to a facility in Cleveland, Columbus or Toledo, Schaffner said.
Agency personnel take such children into the community for activities such as fishing or movies or any of the things other children do, Schaffner said.
“This is horrifying to me because we’re so lucky to have everyone alive and safe,” Schaffner said. “I’m sure the hand of God was at work here keeping her safe.
“And our staff did everything right. They called the police and emergency. One on foot chased her down river. One in the water swam after her until the falls, when he got out and went around. She was happy as a clam and probably the only person not traumatized by the event,” he said.
“It was an impulsive act by a kid that could have been life-threatening, but it ended up well due to the good work of the adults involved,” he said.
The girl is also a “good swimmer,” he added, but she did not perceive the danger she was in.
Another bystander near the dam took off his shirt and shoes and attempted to rescue the girl after she went over the dam, but he could not locate her. He got out of the water after a short time because the water was so cold, Nussle said.
One of the dangers of the dam is that the water swirls on the downstream side after passing over the dam and can trap a person, Nussle said.
At the point the girl was rescued, she was in slower moving and shallower water, Nussle said.