ADOT employees rescue woman from canal in Gila Bend
ADOT employees rescue woman from canal in Gila Bend
Maintenance workers formed human chain to pull woman to safety
GILA BEND – Arizona Department of Transportation maintenance workers heard a woman yelling from a canal where she was trapped and rescued her by forming a human chain.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the 58-year-old woman slipped and fell into the canal on Tuesday and was carried away by the swift current. She spent the night clinging to a floating tire next to railroad tracks where the water is forced underground to reach the other side.
Early Wednesday, Ray Ruiz and several others at a nearby ADOT maintenance yard heard the woman and jumped in vehicles to follow the sound. They found her struggling in the water a quarter mile away, linked arms and extended a shovel to pull her to safety.
“It’s swift water and you could get pulled under the railroad tracks,” Ruiz said. “Basically, it’s a siphon.”
In addition to Ruiz, ADOT staff who participated in the rescue are John Gardner, Antonio Trejo Martinez, Salvador Mata Jr., Larry Ortega and David Robledo. They are all highway maintenance technicians.
Once the woman was out of the water, one employee gave her his shirt so she’d have something dry to wear. When deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office arrived and took over, the ADOT maintenance technicians went back to their regular duties.