Heroic officer rescues father and daughter after truck plunges into river
Astounding video captured the moment a Pennsylvania police officer rescued a father and daughter who became stranded in a river after their truck shot into the water from a boat launch.
As a police officer drove by a Pennsylvania river on patrol earlier this week, something peculiar caught his eye — a pickup truck was dangerously close to the edge of the water at a boat launch on the Schuylkill River.
The situation quickly devolved into chaos as the officer pulled over to observe the scene. The truck, which had a man in the driver's seat and a young girl in the bed, started accelerating quickly towards the water, then plunged in, launching about 50 to 60 feet (around 15 to 18 metres) away from shore.
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A dramatic video shows a police officer pulling a father and daughter safely to shore from a sinking truck (ABC12)He immediately called for backup, then tried to secure a boat that could take him out to the scene, where he hoped to pull the horrified duo aboard.
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Other officers from the Norristown Police Department arrived a moment later and assessed the situation. Around the same time, they discovered that the girl could not swim.
Officer Edward Butterworth literally leapt into action, plunging into the water and swimming to the scene of the submerged truck. A release by the Norristown police stated: "Edward Butterworth, Sr., who is an avid swimmer, saw that this was a life-threatening situation after hearing that the female did not know how to swim."
The dramatic video shows him wading out, then swimming quickly out to the truck. He hoists the girl up and carries her to shore, then races back to the truck, where he grabs the man and helps him back to shore as well.
The young girl reportedly couldn't swim (ABC12)The father had attempted to save the girl as well but wasn't quite strong enough to pull her back to shore. The current nearly pulled them both away, the release, which was posted to Twitter, now known as X, stated.
None of the parties involved in the incident — the father and daughter nor all the officers — were injured. The family was taken to the hospital but were reportedly fine.
The incident occurred at Riverfront Park at around 2 p.m. on Labor Day, which was Monday. The release commended Butterworth for his actions, which "saved the lives of these two people, who possibly would not have survived if it were not for his selfless and immediate actions."
This wasn't the only recent incident of the cops coming to the rescue in recent weeks, either. Earlier this week, a cop saved an 18-month-old baby as it was turning blue and failing to breathe during a traffic stop for a speeding driver.
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