Woman honored who lost arm while saving girl.In the summer of 2003. Robyn Boggs vacationed with members of her extended family at her father-in-law's house on the Potomac River Potomac River River, east-central U.S. Rising in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, it is about 287 mi (462 km) long. It flows southeast through the District of Columbia into Chesapeake Bay. It is navigable by large vessels to Washington, D.C. in Stafford County, Virginia Stafford County is a county located in the "Commonwealth" of Virginia, a U.S. state. As of the 2000 census, the population was 92,446, however, the current estimated population as of 2006 is 120,170, a 30.0% increase. Its county seat is Stafford6. . As other relatives boarded the family boat, Mrs. Boggs and her 11-year-old niece. Sarah Planakis, contented themselves with relaxing on floatable seat cushions in the river. From the river, Mrs. Boggs watched her 12-year-old son water-ski behind the boat, and she became worried because the boat appeared to be headed perilously close to Sarah and her. When her son jumped off his skis, the boat continued on a path headed straight toward Sarah. In an AP interview reported in the Richmond Times-Dispatch The Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD or TD for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia the capital of Virginia, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state. . Mrs. Boggs recalled thinking: "He's going to kill her with that boat!" Mrs. Boggs swam toward her niece and pushed the girl under the water, only to be struck by the boat herself. A report on the Carnegie Hero website reveals: "The boat's propeller caught her along her left side, inflicting cuts from shoulder to knee and almost severing her arm." Mrs. Boggs knew her condition was severe: her left leg was numb and presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. shattered; her chest hurt where broken ribs had punctured her lungs; and she was bleeding profusely pro·fuse adj. 1. Plentiful; copious. 2. Giving or given freely and abundantly; extravagant: were profuse in their compliments. . Fearing that if she left the water the bleeding would only get worse, Mrs. Boggs told the others to go for help, but another 15-year-old niece jumped in the water to assist her. When the boat returned with a doctor, the bleeding Mrs. Boggs had to help the others get her aboard. She was transported to an ambulance, which brought her to a waiting helicopter, which flew her to Inova Fairfax Hospital Inova Fairfax Hospital is the largest hospital in the Washington D.C. area. Located in Fairfax County, Virginia, Inova Fairfax Hospital is the flagship hospital of Inova Health System, one of the largest employers in Fairfax County. . It was not until she awakened from a medically induced coma A barbiturate-induced coma, or barb coma, is a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of a barbiturate drug, usually pentobarbital or thiopental. 23 days alter the accident that she learned the full extent of her injuries. She had lost her arm and a kidney. One of the attending surgeons, Dr. John Moynihan, said the blood loss alone was enough to have killed her. When reporters asked her why she risked her life that day, she explained: "I honestly knew the boat was going to kill her. I had to save her." Sarah's mother, Mindy Planakis, nominated her sister-in-law for the Carnegie Medal for heroism, which she received. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion