Denver firefighters pulled an elderly woman from the South Platte River about 1 p.m. today and revived her with CPR while authorities tried to understand why she waded into the swift current with a metal walker.
As of 6:15 p.m., Denver police had not determined the woman’s identity or age. She was alive, but her condition had not been updated by Porter Adventist Hospital, a police spokesman said.
Assistant Fire Chief Joe Hart said the woman was “well over 60” years old.
Witnesses reported seeing her pushing her walker into the river just south of Interstate 25.
Her foot became tangled on the bottom and the current was washing over her in chest-deep water by the time rescuers arrived, Hart said.
There was no pulse when firefighters pulled her from the swift current. CPR restored a pulse, and rescuers performed CPR in the ambulance all the way to the hospital, Hart said.
According to Denver Water statistics, the South Platte in Denver is flowing above average. On Friday, it flowed at 919 cubic feet per second. The historic average for June is 808 cfs.
On average, 46 people Colorado die from drowning each year, and another 38 are hospitalized because of submersion, according to the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment.
