By this point, all of those assembled realized Steve’s intent and suddenly went silent. Steve said something quickly to Billy Marsh, then strode to the edge of the platform, and dove into the icy waters of Emerson River!
“Holy cow!” yelled Amber Stahl as she watched in awe. “Tell me you’ve got that on video, Stan! Keep recording. We’re looking at high drama here. I’m going on air in thirty seconds. I want the camera on me until something happens in the river.”
“Hello, Keith,” began Amber as she spoke to the station anchor sitting in the studio, as well as thousands of viewers. “What was supposed to be a celebration and send off for the Sparta football team has suddenly turned into a struggle for life itself. A car with two toddlers just rolled off that hill and crashed into the river, taking the children with it. The mother is inconsolable. Just now a young man, Steve Hammer, the team quarterback, dove into the waters, presumably to search for the children. He must be down there over a minute already and the kids half a minute longer. How long can anyone survive under these frigid waters? Nothing is showing on the surface.”
Charlotte and Gwen heard the newswoman’s broadcast as they huddled nearby. “Oh, Gwen! Those kids! And now Steve!” cried Charlotte. “No one can hold their breath that long! If he doesn’t come up soon, I don’t think he’ll make it!”
Gwen had heard and seen enough. Charlotte was right! No one could stay under water that long. Steve could be floating to the surface soon and she was determined to be ready to pull him from the icy waters. She wouldn’t let him die!
For her part, Kate Anderson reacted to the horrors by calling her mother. “Mom! A car just crashed into the river with two kids in it,” cried Kate into her phone. “It’s on TV! Steve dove into the water a long time ago and he hasn’t surfaced yet! We can’t see anything down there! I’m scared that he won’t make it, and neither will those two little kids!
“Oh no! Mom! Gwen’s taking her clothes off! She’s down to her bra and panties. She just jumped into the water! You saw her, too? What can she do?” cried Kate. “This is horrible!”
Meanwhile, Steve had been shocked by the painfully cold water as it enveloped him. He angled his dive to take him toward the area where he believed the car should be and he quickly found it. It was settled slightly on the driver’s side with the front end lower than the rear. As he grabbed on the door handle, Steve actually heard crying! Looking in, Steve realized that a pocket of air had been trapped inside the vehicle. One baby was almost entirely out of water while the other had water approaching its chin. He knew that he couldn’t open the door on the upper side until the water replaced the air in the vehicle. The driver’s side wouldn’t open because it was tipped and the door was jammed against the river bottom. Looking around, Steve quickly found a rock slightly smaller than a volleyball. He was in desperate need of air as he smashed the rock into the driver’s window. The rock fell through and onto the seat as Steve quickly swam inside, crawled over the seat to reach the air pocket. Gasping for breath, he saw that the twin on the lower side was now under water!
Forcing himself to not panic, Steve unbuckled the restraint and lifted the child into the rapidly diminishing pocket of air. The infant gasped and began to cry, much to Steve’s relief. With his other hand, he unbuckled the second baby as water reached its chin and held him up to the ceiling. He considered the situation as he turned his face upward to again draw air into his tortured lungs. He had to be certain that the water pressure was equalized on both sides of that door before he tried to open it. He would have to keep the infants in the air pocket as long as possible, then open the door and swim as fast as he could to the surface.
Steve placed both babies’ little shirts in one hand, took a deep breath, and dropped down to try the door while holding the children above the water level. The door refused to open. Realizing it was probably locked, Steve fumbled for the release. His lungs began to ache again and the babies no longer had any air pocket from which to draw oxygen. Steve forced himself to remain calm; knowing the lives of the infants depended on his actions. Finally, he managed to unlock the door and shove it open. He swept the kids into his arms and pushed for the surface.
Gwen, too, had been shocked by the low temperature of the water as she splashed into the river. She knew that she needed to keep moving or she’d be of no help to anyone. Suddenly Steve appeared to her right! He held the two babies above the water with one hand. Gwen swam to him and tried to take a child from him, but Steve wouldn’t let go!
“Steve! It’s okay! Let me have the baby,” urged Gwen as she tugged on the child. Steve relaxed his grip and she swept the baby to her chest and swam over to the bulkhead near where the car had gone into the water. A metal ladder was somehow hung over the wall and it extended down into the water. A policeman stood on the ladder, water up to his knees and Gwen handed the baby over and swam back to Steve. She took the second child and swam that one over to the policeman. When she turned for Steve, he was gone from sight!
When Gwen had entered the river, Amber Stahl’s voice showed her absolute amazement and awe as she described Gwen’s courage as she leapt into the icy waters. Viewers were literally sitting on the edge of their seats as they watched Gwen swim back and forth in the icy waters. Onlookers had pulled a ladder off a pickup and tied ropes from it to the pickup and hung the ladder over the edge. A young policeman removed his hat and coat and climbed down as others worked to hold the ladder steady.
Suddenly, Steve broke the surface, well over three minutes after he had disappeared into the river! When he held up the babies, the crowd erupted into cheers. They watched Gwen pry the infants from Steve’s grip and deliver them to the policeman, who gently passed them up. The first baby was actually crying! Grown men felt tears streak down their faces as they watched in stunned wonder. Gwen handed the second baby up and turned in the water.
“He’s gone under!” cried an onlooker. “He lasted long enough to save the kids! Then he ran out of air.”
Gwen dove down and swam toward where she had last seen Steve. Unable to find him, she surfaced for a quick breath and dove again. This time she found Steve and pulled him to the surface. Realizing that getting a big guy like Steve up the ladder would be nearly impossible, Gwen began swimming toward the opposite shore. The river was about two hundred feet across and Gwen was tiring as she struggled with Steve’s weight. As she finally reached shore, she realized it was too steep for her to pull Steve up!
Billy Marsh had stood watching and worrying about the situation, but unsure of what he could do to help. He was a mediocre swimmer, at best. He saw first Steve, and then Gwen fearlessly dive into the icy waters and risk their lives to save another person. He cursed himself for not having the courage that they exhibited so easily. When Steve remained under water for such a long period, Billy began to doubt that Steve would survive. Then he saw Steve surface and Gwen hand off the two infants. Billy felt immense relief. Suddenly Steve went under and Gwen, all alone, pulled him to the surface and started for the far shore. Billy had fished the river many times and knew that Gwen would never manage to get Steve up the bank. Thinking that the time had come for him to man up and grow some balls, Billy stripped down, jumped into the river and swam to help Gwen.
“Here, Gwen, let me take him,” spoke Billy Marsh as he swam up to her, grabbed Steve under the arms and with tremendous effort, dragged Steve out of the water. Gwen immediately dropped down and placed her hand on Steve’s neck.
“He has a pulse!” sobbed Gwen as she bent over Steve, tilted his chin up, pinched his nose and forced her breath into his mouth.
Amber Stahl was delivering riveting commentary as the struggle for life was waged before her camera, and the eyes of thousands of viewers. When Billy hoisted Steve onto the shore and Gwen bent over and began rescue breathing for Steve, Amber’s voice was breaking as she spoke. “Gwen Anderson’s now performing rescue breathing for Steve Hammer! His life now hangs in the balance!”
The cameraman had zoomed in. Viewers watching on TV could see the situation with far more detail than those standing on the far side of the river. Initially, he had zoomed in to show Gwen bending over Steve and feeling his carotids for a pulse. Wearing only wet panties and a red bra, her cleavage was ample, and quite revealing. The cameraman realized that a shot like that may not be what the station wanted to show, so he zoomed even more and caught Gwen press her lips against Steve’s as she forced air into his lungs.