Police in Texas rescued a woman from a submerged Jeep hours after the vehicle somehow made its way into a lake last week.
A fisherman at Lake O’ the Pines in Marion County, Texas, called police Friday after spotting the very top of the Jeep peeking out from the water line about 40 feet from the boat ramp, CBS reports.
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The police arrived 18 minutes after the initial call but determined it was too dangerous to wade out into the water. Instead, they called a wrecker service to drag the Jeep out of the water, which is when they discovered a woman inside still alive.
The unnamed woman was placed in a boat and brought to shore so she could warm up in one of the cruisers. She told police she wasn’t sure how long she was in the lake, but it was likely hours. She was taken to the hospital for treatment for hypothermia. It was later revealed she’d been reported missing in Longview, Texas, 25 miles south of Marion County.
Police would not share details on the case, as it is still an active investigation. But hours under water in the cold sounds like something that ought to kill you dead. How did she survive? Even with a good pocket of air, the cold alone would be incompatible with life.
Insider spoke to a survival expert about the incident, who said the cold rain in Marion County that morning likely helped save her life:
Cat Bigney, a survival expert who has taught at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School for decades, told Insider it’s not unheard of for a person in a submerged vehicle to survive hours underwater, though it is rare.
She said a vehicle submerged in water is “an urgent survival situation” because brain death typically begins within four minutes of oxygen deprivation.
However, she said there have been cases where people have survived for hours or been revived, particularly when the water is cold. “This is a physiological uncommon situation that is still being studied,” Bigney said, citing potential explanations like metabolic shutdown.
Naturally, if your car ends up in a body of water, you’re going to want to get out as quickly as possible. Opening a door will likely be an issue due to the pressure of the water once submerged, so going out a window — either by lowering it or breaking it — is your next move.