A group of bystanders rescued two St. Louis men from nearly drowning in the Big River at Rockford Park on Thursday, June 20. A 26-year-old man was transported to SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton for medical treatment, High Ridge Fire Chief John Barton said.
Barton said two men were wading in the river at about 6 p.m. when a strong and deep current pulled them under.
He said three or four bystanders heard the men calling for help from the lower area of the river access and jumped into the river to pull them out of the current. He said the men began pulling the bystanders underwater, using them to get out of the water.
The other man, 28 years old, told Barton they were not strong swimmers.
This is the second near-drowning on the Big River at Rockford Park this season. Two people drowned on the river last summer. The Big River has strong, unassuming currents near the Rockford Park access point, Barton said.
“It really turned into a cascading event where we could have potentially had three or four drownings,” Barton said. “This is the second time this year that bystanders stepped in and saved somebody’s life – and doing so at their own risk.
“It’s another thing that we add to the list of things to think about (when swimming at Rockford Park). You’re putting your life at risk, you’re putting innocent bystanders there with their families at risk because they’re going to jump in and try to help, and then obviously putting first responders at risk.”
The Jefferson County Council voted in March to change the name of the park from Rockford Beach Park to Rockford Park. The vote also approved legislation to ban the use of alcohol and recreational marijuana there.
Councilman Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) had proposed an ordinance that also would have prohibited swimming at the park, however, Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs) amended the bill to keep swimming at the park.
Signs at the park warn that sections of the river are hazardous to swimming and wading. The signs do not ban swimming or wading, though.
Barton said he needed to use a Spanish translation app to communicate with the two men who nearly drowned at the park. He said they had difficulties describing their injuries and what led up to the incident in English.
“There are not currently multilingual signs at the park, so they may not have been able to read that,” Barton said. “There are certainly graphical indicators, like a skull and crossbones. Then there’s the obvious language agnostic, ‘If I can’t swim very well, I’m not going to get in the river.’ That very frequently seems to be a decision that escapes people who can’t swim.”
The Eureka Fire Protection District and Big River Ambulance District assisted on the call, Barton said.
Barton said there was a “real sense of irony” with this incident. A St. Louis news station had just finished coverage at Rockford Park on the dangers of the Big River when the near drowning took place.
“I was just getting home from doing an interview about safety out there and then immediately – I walked in the door – and I get dispatched to a water rescue,” he said. “I think it’s important to point out that there are people who have lost their lives in the river and the people they were with said they were very good swimmers. This case was not one of those, it was somebody who decided to take an unnecessary risk and nearly paid the ultimate price for it.”