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STANSBURY PARK — Moments after arriving at the scene of a minivan that had gone off the road into an icy retention pond, Utah Highway Patrol trooper Travis Williams knew there were people in trouble.
"I could hear hysterical screaming coming from inside the van," Williams said.
At first, a bystander asked Williams if he had a rope. The trooper got one from the trunk of his car, but after surveying the situation, he knew he would have to go in the water too.
"I didn't think we were going to get a rope to that person inside and do anything with it. I took off my gun-belt and went into the water," he said.
I didn't think we were going to get a rope to that person inside and do anything with it. I took off my gun-belt and went into the water.
–Trooper Travis Williams
Saturday afternoon, Williams dove into the icy water to help rescue three women whose van had gone into the water. One woman was unable to get out and the water level inside rose to about neck level.
The women were traveling westbound on I-80 just after 12:30 p.m. and were on the off-ramp connecting to SR-36 when their minivan drove off the road into an ice covered retention pond.
"The driver stated she was cut off by another vehicle," said UHP trooper Evan Kirby.
The 40-year-old driver said she swerved and her vehicle veered off the left side of the road.
Two of the women were able to free themselves, but the third was trapped for about 20 minutes in "neck-level" water, Kirby said.
Williams said when he arrived, he saw two women standing on the floorboards and hanging onto the minivan door while the third woman was still in her seat.
"I could see her in there. She was yelling and screaming and I couldn't tell if she was hurt or not. I wanted to get her out of there," Williams said.
Williams said the water was about chest deep, but his feet never touched the bottom as he leapt into the water and was able to immediately reach the van.
"If I could describe it, it would be jumping in an ice cold glass of water," said Williams.
Another bystander also jumped in the water to assist the trooper. While the two were attending to the women in the van, other bystanders were able to get a ladder and stretch it from the shore to the vehicle.
Once they got the woman out, Williams climbed on top of the van and helped one of the women get on top of the vehicle also. One woman was helped back to shore using the ladder.
Another woman, however, was afraid to move onto the roof. A blanket was thrown to wrap around that woman until fire crews arrived. Once the fire department arrived at the scene, crews used a long ladder from a fire truck to get the remaining victims who crawled on it back to shore.
The three women were taken to a local hospital to be treated for hypothermia. Williams said he was checked out by paramedics at the scene by not transported.
None of the injuries were serious.
Williams said while he was trying to help the women get out, the icy water didn't bother him as much.
"It didn't feel as cold as after things were taken care of," he said.
But afterward, "I didn't feel anything but cold," Williams said.
Williams is a six year veteran of the UHP. He spent the first five years of his career based in Moab and has been in Tooele for about a year.
"I kind of think it's crazy," he said of Saturday's heroic rescue. "I didn't really think about it at the time. I couldn't tell if someone was seriously hurt or not by the way she was screaming. She just needed help."
Story written by Molly Farmer and Pat Reavy.
(Photo courtesy Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
