In a rescue that unfolded like a drama in three acts, emergency workers plucked two people from an outcropping in the swollen waters of the South Fork River on Monday.
Laura Denton, 17, and Mike Atkins, 23, told Gaston authorities they had fallen off inflatable rafts near the Pharr Yarns plant, after her dog jumped in the river. As the river roiled around them, Denton and Atkins floated over a dam near the plant and scrambled onto a rock, rescuers said later.
It took nearly two hours and several attempts -- all captured live by hovering helicopters from area TV stations -- to figure out how to rescue the pair. Eventually Charlotte firefighter Eric Withers, dangling from a line attached to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department helicopter, hauled both in separately to safety.
"I was never in danger at all," said Withers, who lives in Dallas and has been a Charlotte firefighter for three years. "It was easy because we trained for it."
Denton and Atkins, both of Lowell, were taken to Gaston Memorial Hospital. Neither suffered serious injury, nursing supervisor Helen Briest said. Denton was released about 10:30 p.m.; Atkins was released by 11:30 p.m., hospital officials said.
The first call came in to 911 shortly after 4 p.m. Chad Parker, 29, and a friend had been walking nearby when they heard screams and ran to the N.C. 7 bridge over the river. They saw a man and a woman standing on a rock in the middle of a swirling river, Parker said, and called police.
Officer Randy Smith, 41, of the McAdenville Police Department, got the call at 4:12 p.m. that two people were in the river on a rock near the dam, and called for further help. Rescue crews arrived at 4:45 p.m.
Initially, Gaston Emergency Medical Service intended to get the couple off the rock via an inflatable boat that would be paddled upstream, said incident co-commander Jim Pharr. Pharr said rescuers first set up safety lines downstream, in case anyone was carried away by the current. If that happened, a person could grab onto the rope and be pulled to safety.
But circumstances quickly began to unravel the plan.
Rescuers tried to speak to the people on the rocks using bullhorns, but there was so much noise from the river, Denton and Atkins could not be heard.
Light was fading fast as sundown approached. And rescuers found they couldn't maneuver the boat well enough in the swirling water.
Complicated mission:
So Darren Ledford of GEMS and his team -- Sammy Willis, 42, and Ted Hendrix, 36, of Gaston Urban Search and Rescue -- pulled on cold-water suits. Hanging onto each other for support, the trio fought upstream through the waist-high current with life jackets and helmets for the stranded pair. Plumbing with an oar to avoid holes, they reached the rock shortly before 6 p.m. Ledford, who was in charge of the water-borne rescue attempt, said he found Denton bruised and showing signs of a head injury; she told him she was knocked out after going over the dam.
Denton also told them she and Atkins were trying to go upstream in separate rafts with her black terrier, but the dog got scared and jumped into the water. She reached for him and got too close to the dam. It sucked her over, and she was knocked out. The dog had not been found as of 9 p.m.
Atkins, who was in a different raft, followed and caught her limp body, pulling her onto the rock.
"We were going to swim them to a nearby island and put them in the boat," said Ledford, a swift-water rescue instructor and paramedic . "But the current was too strong with the rocks and the girl being injured."
It was the type of rescue Ledford trains others for, but it wasn't going to happen this time. They needed help.
Ledford decided to call in the Charlotte helicopter, determining Denton's condition, the water temperature and the hazardous current made any other rescue too dangerous, he said.
"We just hooked up to the support and told them what to expect," Willis said. "They were cold, they were scared and they weren't real sure about the helicopter ride, especially the girl."
A proud father Hoyle Withers Jr. of Dallas was watching the scene on television when he suddenly looked more closely at the man dangling from the Charlotte police helicopter.
"I thought it was Eric because he is one of the small ones on his shift," said Hoyle Withers, 50. Hoyle Withers said he thought he recognized his son from the hand signals being used by the man hanging from the helicopter.
"Oh boy, I said a prayer. I said `Lord, let him do his job, good lord, and bring him back,' " said Withers, a member of the Dallas rescue squad for 33 years.
As he flew over the swollen river suspended from two 90-foot cables that can hold 9,000 pounds, Eric Withers clicked his heels to signal to the pilot that they'd cleared power and tree lines as they headed toward Denton and Atkins. A spotter in the helicopter signaled the pilot that Withers was clear.
Withers took the girl first because she appeared injured. He hooked a cinch collar under her arms. As the rope pulled up, the cinch tightened and Withers wrapped his arms around her body. The helicopter deposited them at a nearby ballfield.
"They were frightened, so I was talking to them to get their mind off how high they were," he said.
Rain raises water
The mothers of Denton and Atkins found out about the rescue from neighbors who had seen the situation play out on TV."It scared me real bad," said Donna Denton, Laura's mother. "I don't think they realized how high the water was."
There was nothing unusual about the rushing waters that overflowed the Pharr Yarns plant dam. It happens every time Gaston County has torrential rains, said a company official.
"This would be a normal situation after torrential rains," said Melvin Collins, Pharr's human resources director. "We did have some incredible rain over the weekend."
According to AccuWeather, a national weather forecasting service, 1.34 inches of rains dumped on Gaston starting early Friday and ending early Sunday.
Once the rainfall spills over the dam, Collins said, there's little plant officials can do.
Friends love river
The river is a popular draw despite the "No Trespassing" signs posted, said Lt. Gary Morgan of the McAdenville Fire Department.
Atkins and Denton were childhood friends who enjoyed going out to the river frequently, Donna Denton said.
Eric Taylor, 25, said he met Atkins when both were in school and had begun mowing lawns for money. On the weekends, they used to go out to the river and ride the pedal boats.
"He loves the river," Taylor said. "He's took a couple of chances before. He's an adventurous type of guy."
GEMS officials couldn't recall a similar swift-water rescue.
"We've had some guys in boats who got stuck after running out of gas," said Nancy Martin, GEMS operations supervisor. "But people being in swift water, this is the first rescue of this magnitude."
Withers and his fire team had never done any training with a helicopter or in swift water. The closest they'd come is scaling Charlotte skyscrapers to pluck people off the roof, he said.
This rescue involved water churning at a level equivalent to a Class III rapid -- difficult, large, irregular waves up to four feet.
Withers credited the pilot, Phil Hollifield, a retired Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer, with most of the work. It was difficult landing him on the rock and Withers was dipped in the swollen river several times.
After he finished the rescues, Withers called his dad.
"He was happy I was back on the ground," Withers said.