A female cyclist survived miraculously after being sucked underwater while trying to cross a flooded Tucson, Arizona bridge. The 20-year-old woman had to be revived with CPR.
A shocking eyewitness video of the woman has gone viral on social media.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office responded to a water rescue at Sabino Canyon Thursday, August 13, after the woman tried to ride her bike across a bridge as raging floodwaters surged through the area. Authorities said that the rushing water swept the woman and her bike underneath the bridge.
The video shows the woman struggling to escape after getting trapped in a hole, KOLD reported. She is then suddenly seen getting sucked beneath the churning water.
A woman who tried to help was swept downstream, and the rescue attempt turned into another emergency. Good Samaritans eventually rescued the victims, pulling them from the water.
The 20-year-old woman was reportedly unresponsive after being rescued. She needed CPR and eventually survived the ordeal.
The video shows several people rushing to help her and trying to pull her out. The woman who was swept away while trying to help was dragged downstream some 100 feet before she was rescued.
“She takes a step back from the rescue efforts as others are trying to say, and she goes underwater and disappears,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said. “And the video pans out to the right downstream, and that tunnel that she disappeared into literally just threw her out another 100 feet down.”
“That’s how powerful that force is,” Nanos added.
The first woman was rescued only after she had been underwater for several minutes. Two people were taken to a local hospital and were later said to be in a stable condition, the office said in a post.
Nanos said that the situation could have been worse.
“What if that tunnel had been clogged? What if she bangs her head? It’s just, you can ‘what if this to death,’ but the real issue is simply don’t do it,” Nanos said.
“PCSD reminds our community: Never attempt to cross flooded washes, whether on a bike, in a vehicle, or on foot,” a post from the department read. “Fast‑moving water is extremely dangerous and puts you and first responders at risk.”
The canyon is located northeast of Tucson where there have been monsoon storms.
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More
