Letter: Watching a community care
To the community,
This is part of an email that I sent my son Aug. 1. We hear so much now days about people that don’t care, are apathetic, and just don’t want to get involved. That’s not the case in South Lake Tahoe. The people that I witnessed today were amazing. They did care, weren’t apathetic, and jumped right in, literally, to help a person in dire need.
I was in the water so I don’t know where they were running from to help.
I am proud to live in South Lake Tahoe, and I do feel safe here if I ever needed rescuing.
August 1, 2014
Today is the 14th anniversary of my moving here to Meyers so I’m going kayaking to celebrate. As I’m loading up, there are some people in front of the house across the street crying. I go over and ask what’s up. The sweet lady Marilynn that has been battling cancer for the past 6 years died this morning. Very sad. Tom was married to her for 45 years. I can’t imagine the grief that he and his family must feel. She used to run a day care from her house. All of the families that could leave their kids with someone that they could really trust. She will be sorely missed. I thought about them throughout the day and the kindness that they showed me by inviting me over for dinner this last Thanksgiving. I could tell that it was not easy for her but she was a very strong person. They are such nice caring people.
So I finally make it to the Lake. The little island at the Upper Truckee river mouth is now part of the shore. People were riding their bikes out there. Some were walking way out beyond where I was paddling. Very low lake.
Saw A ton of birds and ducks.
So it’s evening now and I’m coming back to Timber Cove pier and the waves were pretty big and several came in the boat to be with me. This time I brought my sponge. They were mostly coming from the north so I was broad sided all the way back. As I came up to go through the pier I had to work hard not to crash into it. I noticed two girls walking on the pier just a little ahead of me towards the beach. I got through ok and turned to head in when I noticed one of the girls ripping her shirt off and had a swim suit underneath. She flew down the stairs ahead of me and started wading through the water as fast as she could go. I had no idea what she was doing.
She stops about 20 feet ahead of me and reaches down into the water and pulls up a limp girl, face down from under the water. I thought that she had found a dead body, then I realized that it was the girl that she was walking with. She lifted her head out of the water and held her by her under arms face down for a few seconds and then gently turned her over and held her face out of the water. Just then another guy races down the stairs and wades over to help and is joined by two other guys a few seconds later. The rescuing girl says that she is breathing and talking and leaves her with the other three guys while she retrieves something from the water and tells the drowning girl that she found it. Then I hear them say that she can’t move. Another girl from the pier is yelling to put her in a C-spine position and not to let her bend. Now all four of them are holding her from head to toe keeping her straight. They really struggled because of all the big waves coming in. They held her facing the beach so the waves weren’t broad siding her. The guy holding her head was between her and the waves. Other people on the pier were running around and showed up with a paddleboard and lowered it down to the water. They get her on it and slowly started moving her to the beach. The paramedics were already there waiting for them to bring her in. Now they take over and a few minutes later they rush her off to Barton. I was amazed at how all of these people responded so quickly and knowing just what to do.
I talked to the rescuing girl afterwards to see how the girl was and she said that she could raise both hands over her head when the paramedics asked her to but they fell down right away. She also had a grip in both hands, but very weak. They thought that she might be slowly recovering already. I pray that she will recover fully. She told me that the wind blew $30 out of the girls hand and she dove in head first to retrieve it. The water was maybe 3 1/2 feet deep and very muddy. She said that she is a professional lifeguard and went after her right away. She said that one of the rescuing guys was an EMT. I told her that she just saved her life and that the response and professionalism were excellent. I said that I’m glad that they knew how to handle the situation because I know very little about medical emergencies. I did stay close, but out of their way, in case there was something they could use me for. I told her again, ” You just saved that girls life.” She thanked me for that and went on her way.
So that was my anniversary day paddle.
Mitch Forster, Meyers
Thank you. It was my niece who was rescued and I wanted to find out what happened since I live in Canada (and many members of her family do as well). Your story at least tells us what happened and the quick actions of the community that we can be thankful for.
Thank you I am the girls mother. She was helicoptered to the trauma center in Reno. I have been with her since Friday night I live in Placerville. She has had surgery fusion C2 to T2 and is paralyzed with some upper extremity function but incomplete. However probably thanks to the amazing people that you witnessed rescue her we can hope and pray for gradual return of function because the spinal cord was not severed or displaced. We can only hope that as the swelling decreases we will see a return of sensation and normal movement
I would like to say that my daughter says she was completely conscious the whole time and she swears shr did not hit the bottom. She says she was paralyzed as soon as she hit the water. Your description of how rough the water was and the height of diving from the dock – ? 10 ft – and that she was diving out to get the money that blew – it is possible that she did not hit bottom but just hit that rough water wrong. I really donot like to think about it. She told me it was teffifying. She was face down in the water, ,fully conscious and paralyzed unable to do anything. She was a very good competitive swimmer. So I also thank you for your report and I will find out who the people were that saved my daughters life and I will thank them from the bottom of my heart
Susie
I would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the Renown Hospital Trauma ICU and her surgeon Dr.Leppa. I am a medical provider myself and I have to say that the care my daughter has received in the Renown Hospital Truman ICU has exceeded any expectation I could have expected in today’s medical society. They have been wonderful
I watched the lifeguard girl pull your daughter and niece from the water. You read my story. A lot of people helped save and preserve her life. From the guys at Timber Cove to the girl listening from the pier who said to put her in c-spine. To the people who brought the paddle board. And the paramedics who were waiting on the beach. I did see the helicopter flying toward Heavenly to fly her to medical care. The very best responded to your daughter. But the first one that I saw was the lifeguard racing through the water and very carefully lift your daughter from under the water. I was looking to see if she was alive when the second responder was coming close I heard the lifeguard say that she was breathing and talking.
I was looking for the lifeguard afterward to find out how your daughter was. When I was still in the water I heard the paramedics ask her to lift her arms up but there were people standing in the way so I couldn’t see how she responded. As I said in my story I will never forget the sight of the lifeguard raising your daughter from the water. It was like she was a raising a priceless gift from God to life. She cradled her in her arms protecting her from the waves and water.
All of the responders are very worth finding. Not to be redundant but I told the lifeguard several times.” you just saved that girls life”. From the moment she called for help, I never heard that from under the pier and my old 65 year old ears, to the time she hit the water and everyone within ear shot responded like she was their sister, daughter or niece.
I prayed to my Father in heaven when I heard that she couldn’t move that she would once again have the full use of her limbs. With God’s blessing she will one day again be a competitive swimmer. I’m glad to know that she has a loving and caring mom and aunt.
The reason that your daughter is alive today is because the lifeguard lifted her up out of the water. She was talking right away. When I talked to her afterward she was very nice and really wanted to talk about what happened. It seemed that the other people that helped knew her. Two girls took the paddle board back after she was transported. I’m sure that the Timber Cove Marina employees can fill you in on more from their perspective.
I was concentrating on the waves and getting through the pier, but I did notice the two girls walking along the pier quite normally.
We would all love to hear updates on her progress. I thought that I would never hear from her again. But know I know now that she has a mom and aunt. I know from the lifeguard’s attitude when I met her that she will want to know too. I call her a lifeguard because that is what she told me that she was trained to do. And she did. I am praying for you all. And that’s not just a polite thing to say. Whenever I pray for things in my life, I remember where it says to look up to the sky and look at all of those stars. He made them all, He keeps them bright every night, He named them all, and very impressive at my age He never forgets their names. Thank you for keeping us posted and to Lake Tahoe News for providing the forum.
Susie Inns
If you do mind I understand. We are calling your daughter the “girl”. If you want to, could you give us her first name? If not I understand. How is she doing?
I also would like to thank the wonderful Tahoe folks who saved my granddaughters life. Your Email is so enlightening. We count our blessings .
Maridee will be moved from wonderful Reno hospital trauma to a Kaiser in Sacramento this week. She is breathing better. Thank you. Grandmother from Toronto,Ont Can
Love and prayers to Maridee, Susie and the Inns family
Many thanks to the rescuers and the medical team who saved her life.
Alison , A lifelong friend to the Inns
Thank you for the update. Still praying for all of you.
Mitch,
I am the aunt from Canada who responded before. On August 4th you asked how she was doing and what her name was and I did not reply as it was too early to tell. Now that weeks have passed I can unfortunately say that recovery is not as promising as we had hoped. It looks like she will be a quadripalegic. Her name is Maridee McFarlane and her mother, Susie Inns, is taking time off work to try to deal with the situation. It is a very trying time for them. I really do thank you for your concern.
Sandy Evans
Dear Susie..heard about Meridee and wanted to let you know that you are both in my prayers. I thank God for all the people who came to her aid. Love and blessings…Cousin Kathy
Dear Susie, heard about Maridee and have been praying for you and Maridee. I truly believe that God is and was watching over Maridee to have all of the help for her so available. We don’t know why bad things happen to good people but we know we have a God who LOVES and CARES for us. Please know you are both in my prayers daily and I trust that God will uphold you during this difficult time. With Love and Continued Prayers, Cousin Marg from Canada