Polson officer saves 5-year-old from drowning
Reserve deputy Nat O’Farrell, left, and deputy Sgt. Mike Carlson talked to drivers along Hwy. 83 Wednesday in an effort to alert them about the escaped prisoners. Here they chat with Sleep City USA driver Jarod Lynch at one of the checkpoints set up in the Swan. Karen Nichols/Daily Inter Lake
By Ethan Smith
Leader Staff
A fun family outing, a beautiful day at the lake, and a nice day for a swim all had the makings for a potential disaster last Saturday, but Polson police officer Chris Wright was on the job.
Wright was conducting his normal patrol of city parks when he pulled into Riverside Park shortly before 5 p.m., and not a second too soon, when he saw a girl struggling to keep her head above water. It was a losing battle, as the girl's mouth filled with water, stifling any screams she might have been able to get out.
“Her mouth had filled with water, so she couldn't shout, even though her family was nearby,” Wright said. “Her mom had just turned around for a second, talking to other family members, and that's all it took.”
Wright took off his duty belt and jumped in, pulling the 5-year-old Ronan girl to safety. He radioed dispatch he was going in, and a minute later, notified dispatchers he had pulled her out of the water.
Wright's report, written in the pragmatic language of any official report, belied the potential disaster that he helped prevent.
“I pulled in next to the boat ramp, and observed that a boat was launching and that a small child was swimming southwest of the ramp, approximately 40 to 50 feet from shore. Her head was back, and her head went under water on two occasions. She appeared tired and to be having difficulty,” he wrote.
She had only one shot at yelling for help, and after that, her mouth had filled with water, Wright said in an interview Monday.
“Her head went under again, and when she came up she screamed for help and went back under,” he wrote in his report.
Wright jumped in and pulled the girl to safety. She was shaken up, but otherwise unhurt.
“She never lost consciousness. But it probably would have been a lot worse because nobody could hear her since her mouth was full of water,” Wright said.
Wright downplayed his role in the incident, but officer Bill Barron had also responded to the scene and told dispatch that Wright had saved the girl's life.
Her mother and family and friends were about 50 feet from the shore. Her mother told Wright that the girl had just learned to doggy paddle, and that her daughter never leaves the shore area.
The girl told Wright “she was touching the bottom and then it just went away,” his report stated.
Wright collected his duty belt and checked off shift to go home to change into dry clothes, and then reported back for duty to finish his shift.