COLUMBUS, Ind. – A Columbus Police Department (CPD) officer saved a woman and her daughter from the river near Mill Race Park on Saturday. Local first responders were called to a water rescue at the park, near 5th and Lindsey Streets, at around 1:45 p.m.
Reportedly, a woman was yelling for help in the water. Officer Andrew Plank was the first to arrive just two minutes after being dispatched. He was directed to a sandbar where he saw a woman and child holding onto a fallen tree in the river. Plank immediately removed his body armor vest and duty belt and entered the water.
The officer swam to the fallen tree and first retrieved the eight-year-old child. The girl climbed on his back and he swam her to the riverbank. He then returned to help the woman from the tree to the water’s edge.
CPD said it appeared that two children had been playing on the sandbar, but ended up in the river. The mother, Charity Weis, 34, of Idaville, Indiana, went into the river to help them, but she and one of the children got caught in the current.
Due to Officer Plank’s efforts, everyone emerged from the river safely. EMS personnel at the scene evaluated Weis and her daughter.
Law enforcement encourages anyone in or around a body of water to wear a personal floatation device. The river’s current can be deadly even for strong swimmers.
