Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408210061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Katie Lynn Charlton, 22, was canoeing with a friend around 4 p.m. Saturday when they ran into a tree limb that had fallen into the river, Salem police said.
The canoe, near the edge of the river, got tangled in the branches and flipped, throwing Charlton's companion from the boat and trapping Charlton underwater.
Charlton's friend tried to free her but couldn't move the canoe. He then left the river and ran through a small thicket of woods alongside Virginia 419 near Apperson Drive.
Bill King was the first motorist to see the man waving his arms in an effort to flag down help.
"He said, `My girlfriend is trapped underwater,' " King recalled. "But he didn't seem totally coherent."
King called 911 from his cellular phone.
The two men dashed back to the river to see if they could get Charlton out of the water.
King said the canoe was nearly hidden beneath the water, and Charlton wasn't visible at all.
"I couldn't see hardly anything," he said.
They soon were joined in the rescue by Salem Police Officer Michael Farrell and Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Bill King, who happened to be driving by.
The men couldn't find Charlton and thought she might not be underneath the canoe.
Finally, one of the men felt her elbow, said Fred King, who isn't related to Bill King.
Salem Sgt. Mick Reed said Charlton wasn't breathing and her skin had turned blue when the men finally pulled her from the river.
Rescue workers revived her at the scene. She was listed in satisfactory condition Saturday night at Lewis-Gale Hospital, Reed said.
"She's still in the ballpark," the police officer said.
Reed said he's never seen anyone revived after being trapped underwater so long. He said Charlton, of Roanoke County, was wearing a life jacket, but that it apparently did little good when she became trapped under the canoe.
The near-drowning was the second incident on the river in less than a week. On Monday, Michael A. Montgomery, 24, of Roanoke drowned while fishing.
Rescuers said the aluminium canoe bent when it got tangled in the tree, making it difficult to free Charlton.
Bill King walked away from the accident scene hunched over. He said he injured his back trying to lift the huge branch off the canoe.
His shirt muddy and his jeans soaked above the knees, Bill King downplayed his role in the woman's rescue.
"I did what I could," the Roanoke man said. "This is just like a war. Nobody wins."
by CNB