A 37-year-old woman who slipped into rushing water at a San Antonio park was swept down a drainage canal Friday after losing her footing just as firefighters tried to reach her with a ladder.
The rescue unfolded shortly after noon at Woodlawn Lake Park, where a KENS 5 crew captured the scene as San Antonio firefighters positioned themselves along the canal.
San Antonio Park Police told the station that the woman had climbed over a chain-link fence and made her way down toward the canal before becoming stranded on a steep concrete retaining wall.
A passerby spotted her and called 911.
One Missed Step
Embedded media follows; please allow a moment to load.
Firefighters lowered a ladder toward the woman as she clung to the sloped concrete above the fast-moving water.
As she reached for it, she lost her footing and slid into the canal.
Bystander Michelle Saenz told KENS 5 she watched the woman try to grab the ladder before slipping into the water.
The current quickly carried her downstream, but firefighters had already moved into position farther along the canal.
Video shows the woman swimming toward one of the firefighters before the crew pulled her from the water.
A Timely Warning
The rescue came two days after the San Antonio Fire Department warned residents to prepare for approaching storms.
“The storm is coming, make your plan while you can!” the department wrote while directing residents toward emergency-preparedness information.
Park Police said it remained unclear why the woman had climbed over the fence and entered the canal area.
She was safely rescued and was doing fine afterward.