Rescued woman ‘pretty shaken’

When Savannah Davies was swept down river during a rescue, she thought she was a goner.

‘‘It was pretty scary, I could hear the fireman gurgling water,’’ Davies said.

The 19-year-old was a passenger in a vehicle that got stuck about 20 metres into the Ashley River, near Rangiora, while four-wheeldriving about 10.40pm on Saturday. There were four people in the truck. The water was up to the windows of the truck and still rising when they got stranded.

‘‘It was obviously misjudged, we thought it was a lot shallower than it was.’’

After getting stuck, Davies thought a nearby truck would be able to pull them out, but it got stranded as well. The second driver abandoned his vehicle and got back to the riverbank safely.

Davies called her dad, who called his best mate, Nick Torrance. They jumped in Torrance’s truck, along with her mum and headed to the river to try to rescue the group. When they got there, it was clear they were not going to be able to help. Davies’ parents called emergency services about 11.45pm.

By that time, the stranded group had climbed out the windows of the vehicle and on to the roof. About 20 people had gathered at the riverbank to try to help after being alerted through social media. Firefighters tried to rescue Davies first. She started to walk towards a fireman as he waded into the river to get her, but the water was too fast and they both lost their footing.

‘‘It was so scary. I thought I was a goner.’’ They floated about 30m before Torrance jumped in and grabbed them.

Davies said the incident left her with cuts on her feet and a sore ankle, but she was otherwise OK.

‘‘I was just pretty shaken, I couldn’t stop crying.’’

Firefighters attached a rope to the stranded vehicle to help rescue the remaining three people.

Torrance said the moment Davies went into the water was ‘‘pretty terrifying’’.

‘‘I went running over, managed to get in the water a bit and grab on to them.’’

A police spokeswoman said the driver of the stranded 4WD, a 22-year-old man, was breath-tested at the scene and was over the limit. He will appear in the Christchurch District Court on November 24.

The vehicles were removed from the river yesterday.

- Fairfax NZ