Tubing Teen Clings To Tree After Trouble On Sauk River
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) -- A St. Cloud teenager can thank her lucky stars that an off-duty firefighter was kayaking on the Sauk River Tuesday.
The teenage girl was tubing with a group of friends when she fell into the fast moving water. As she clung to a tree, an off-duty St. Cloud firefighter who happened to by kayaking on the river was able to get to her.
"(He) didn't know that we were responding at the time, but he knew she needed help," said Jerry Raymond, battalion chief with the St. Cloud Fire Department.
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The firefighter provided the girl with a life-jacket and stayed with her until a rescue boat with on-duty firefighters showed up and brought her to safety. She is OK.
Her tubing companions were also located. Not one was wearing a life-jacket.
"Not a wise move to be on any river without a life jacket to start with it," Raymond said. "(With) conditions like that, life jackets are definitely needed."
