A woman was recently rescued by several Arizona Department of Transportation workers after spending a frightening night trapped in a canal.
Five ADOT workers discovered a 58-year-old woman yelling for help in a canal in Gila Bend, a town in southwest Arizona on August 5. She had slipped on algae while attempting to enter the canal, losing her foot and falling into the water. After being pulled by the current of the Gila River, she grabbed a floating tire and stayed afloat overnight near the town’s railroad tracks, a part of the canal where water is forced underground to reach the other side.
“It’s swift water and you could get pulled under the railroad tracks,” said Ray Ruiz, one of the rescuers. “Basically, it’s a siphon.”
Highway maintenance technicians – Ruiz, John Gardner, Antonio Trejo Martinez, Salvador Mata Jr., Larry Ortega and David Robledo – formed a human chain and reached out with a shovel to pull the woman out of the water before she was swept under the railroad tracks. One ADOT worker gave the woman his shirt to help her dry.
The men heard the woman yelling from a quarter mile away while working in an ADOT maintenance yard.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez told Equipment World that deputies and fire department personnel were called to the scene after the woman was discovered. The rescued woman, who is now well, was then transported to a hospital.
“We are deeply grateful to the bystander whose awareness and quick action likely made all the difference,” said Enriquez. “We also commend the strength and perseverance of the woman, whose courage helped her endure an unimaginably difficult night.”
