Family grateful for bystanders who saved mother, children from drowning in reservoir
DRAPER, Utah (KUTV) — A Draper woman nearly drowned in a Herriman reservoir but the quick thinking of a nearby bystander saved her life.
Lance Bradshaw was on his way to meet his wife Danielle and their kids, on Wednesday, who were swimming at Blackridge Reservoir.
“I was driving out about 2:45 p.m., I got a frantic call from my 10-year-old daughter, and she started crying and said mommy... drowned and isn't breathing anymore,” Lance said.
Lance said his wife, Danielle, was a good swimmer and calls this a freak incident when the raft that Danielle and her girls, ages 2 and 5, were on flipped over.
“She struggled to stay afloat herself while holding the babies up so they could continue to breathe,” Lance said.
Bystanders quickly noticed that Danielle was struggling and helped get the two young girls out of the water safely while one of Danielle's sons pulled her to the shore.
Danielle was not breathing and in cardiac arrest.
“Obviously it was not my wife's time or my two girls' time yesterday,” Lance said
That's because an off-duty police officer quickly started doing CPR.
Lance said there’s no way to repay the people who stepped in to help but wanted them to know how grateful he was.
“He responded, jumped into action and literally saved my wife's life," Lance said.
Herriman police arrived a few minutes later and Danielle was taken to the hospital where she spent the night.
Lance said when his wife regained consciousness, “her immediate concern wasn't for herself, how she was doing, she wanted to make sure that her girls we're okay.”
The two young girls were not injured and after finding out they were okay Lance said Danielle was able to start her recovery.
"As you can imagine very exhausted from the experience, but luckily she's still with us and we were able to bring her home from the hospital today," Lance said.
Lance said Danielle was recovering exceptionally well but will take a couple weeks to fully recover.