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She Jumped In And Saved A Man In A Wheelchair Who Fell Into The Yahara River.
Wisconsin State Journal :: LOCAL/WISCONSIN :: B1
Saturday, August 18, 2001
Barry Adams Police reporter
Quick action by a woman who doesn't like the water helped save a man whose wheelchair rolled into the Yahara River on Friday.The man, 46, who police said is physically and developmentally disabled, was with a group from Madison Area Rehabilitation Center preparing to board a pontoon boat at Tenney Park. Police said he unlocked the brake of his wheelchair and rolled off the pier and into 6-feet-deep water between the pier and the boat.
He got a bruise on the head but did not require medical treatment, police said.
MARC employee Winnie Burks, 34, who has been with the company for about two weeks, heard the wheelchair hit the front of the boat and immediately jumped into the water to help hold the man's head above the surface. She was quickly joined in the water by another MARC employee, Mary Reilly, said police and MARC officials.
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"I don't know what made me do that," Burks said, noting that she is "very afraid" of water and unable to swim. "It just wasn't his time to go, and God used my body."
"Winnie's definitely a hero with us," MARC West director Randy Klein said. "Had she not responded so quickly we'd be dealing with a different situation."
Another man, who stayed out of the water, helped stabilize the wheelchair. The MARC client was strapped into the chair. The man was pulled from the river by firefighters.
MARC rents a pontoon boat about two or three times a year from Madison School Community Recreation. The boats are driven by trained volunteers for the school district. When an organization rents a boat, it assumes responsibility to oversee boarding of the vessel, MSCR director Lucy Chaffin said.
Because she had not seen reports of the incident, Chaffin was unsure if safety measures would be reviewed.
MARC Inc., serves 275 adults with developmental disabilities at six locations. About 160 attend centers and 115 work in the community, executive director Richard Berling said.
"I don't want people to think I'm a hero," Burks said. "I'm just glad he's OK."
