DIRK PERREFORT
The News-Times (Danbury, Connecticut)

SOUTHBURY - Former fire chief Bob Bedard didn't think twice about jumping into the raging waters of the Pomperaug River to save a pregnant woman clutching a tree branch for dear life.

Bedard, who lives near the Southbury dog park located on Roxbury Road, heard the call come in at about 3:45 on Tuesday and rushed through his backyard and into the woods to come to the woman's rescue.

When he arrived, Bedard said he found the woman clinging to a tree branch about six feet from shore. The heavy spring rains over the weekend had cause a fast flowing current in the river that had swept the woman away when she jumped in to save her dog. Bedard, a member of Southbury's volunteer fire department, said he made a few quick decisions and formed a plan of action before making his way down the steep, muddy bank and jumping into the water.

"I knew she wasn't going to let go of that branch," he said. "I went down the bank and jumped into the water, within three steps it was all the way up to my chest."

With the aid of a woman who was also at the park Tuesday, Bedard said he was able to get the woman, who was about four months pregnant, out of the water, onto the tree branch and safely to shore. The woman, who was in her mid-30s, was taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital.

Another woman at the park had run to the dog's aid, a chocolate lab, and pulled the exhausted pooch from the waters near the bridge where the river flows under Route 67. "My biggest concern is that the woman might suffer from hypothermia," said Bedard, "especially because she was pregnant. I think she was in shock by the time we got her out of the water." He estimated that the woman, who was not identified by authorities, was probably in the 50 degree water for about 20 minutes before he arrived.

Witnesses, according to Bedard, said the woman was tossing a ball to her dog further up river in the park near the stony beach when it got caught in the current.

"The dog apparently went after the ball and also got caught in the current and was swept down stream," he said. "Then the woman jumped in after him and also got caught in the current."

The episode, officials said, can serve as a warning to people about jumping into fast flowing rivers soaked with spring rains.

"If you get into that kind of situation you have to be aware," said Lyman Gilbert, the chief of the Volunteer Firemen's Association of Southbury. "Especially after heavy rains when the water is really moving. It's easy to get swept away, even in small rivers."

Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said rivers can be particularly dangerous, especially this time of year.

"You just don't know how strong the current is or what hazards may lie underneath the surface," he said.

Bedard said that despite the incident Tuesday, the dog park is still a great resource for dog owners. He takes his own dog, a black lab rescued from New Orleans named Katrina, to the park on a daily basis. On any given day, there can be dozens of people there with their dogs. Tuesday, which had only the three women at the park, was an exception, he said.

"People are surprised at how big the park is," Bedard said. "It's really a terrific place."

Copyright 2009
June 17, 2009