Officers Roberts and Knapp save Woman’s Life
Accident survivor and her rescuers celebrated at D’Iberville groundbreaking
Friday, December 4, 2009
D’IBERVILLE — Carrie McGill walked away from the City Hall groundbreaking ceremonies Friday with an autographed life preserver officers used to pull her from the Tchoutacabouffa River after a car accident earlier this week.
Besides the presentation to the 19-year-old McGill, police patrolmen Michael Knapp and Christopher Roberts were given plaques by Police Chief Wayne Payne for their “outstanding dedication and service above the call of duty” and certificates from the D’Iberville Boys & Girls Club “for making the city of D’Iberville a safe place.”
About 130 people crowded inside and around a large white tent in front of City Hall for a groundbreaking that did not include any breaking of ground.
Harrison County Supervisor Windy Swetman, standing in front of mounds of red mud, concrete slabs and puddles of water, explained that instead of tossing dirt with shovels, city officials and others involved in the project were invited to inscribe their names into a block of wet concrete that will be displayed on the grounds of the new City Hall.
Former City Manager Richard Rose was credited for finding the funding for the project, which will create a 23,200-square-foot three-story building on the north side of the existing City Hall as well as renovation of the existing building.
“Richard Rose was hard-headed enough to continue to go after this,” said architect David Hardy, a 1983 graduate of D’Iberville High.”
Rose, city manager when Hurricane Katrina severely damaged City Hall, went through several proposals and applications before finally hitting pay dirt with a $3 million grant from the Mississippi Development Authority.
His proposal for the estimated $6.2 million construction project will cost the city $2.3 million.
The project came in under bid at $5.8 million.
With the MDA grant, $500,000 from FEMA and insurance for the original damage to the building, the new project is “the bargain of the century,” Rose said. “It’s going to be the finest City Hall anywhere.”
From: SunHerald.com Dec. 2, 2009
Miraculous rescue
Officers save driver who crashed into river
By MICHAEL NEWSOM - mmnewsom@sunherald.com
D’IBERVILLE — Police Patrolman Michael Knapp was checking water levels at the Tchoutacabouffa River on Lamey Bridge Road Wednesday morning when an out-of-control car slid off the road and into the deep water right in front of him.
It had rained heavily Tuesday night and the road was still wet. The driver, 19-year-old Carrie McGill, was quickly sinking inside her car. Knapp said it was a good thing he was there.
“I felt like God put me here,” Knapp said a few hours later while crews worked with sonar to locate McGill’s car, which was submerged nearly 20 feet deep. “If I hadn’t been here, she wouldn’t have made it.”
McGill said she had seen enough movies to know what to do.
“I took my seatbelt off and there was water in my floorboard and coming through the windshield and I couldn’t open my doors,” McGill said. “So I went for the window and the window, luckily, hadn’t shorted out yet. I was able to roll down the window and I climbed out.”
Knapp quickly remembered that a few months ago, D’Iberville Police Chief Wayne Payne had given his officers life jackets to keep in their vehicles. He quickly unwrapped his, which hadn’t been used yet. Some officers in the relatively new police department thought it was a little odd at the time they received theirs, but they trusted Payne, a seasoned lawman, who believed they may come in handy one day.
McGill sat on the door of the car as it floated. Although the wind was high that morning and Knapp was a good distance from McGill, the patrolman threw the life jacket carefully. Payne said he believes God was guiding it to McGill.
“He had the perfect aim because it landed right in my arms,” McGill said. “He kept telling me to keep swimming and to make it towards the shore.”
McGill put the life jacket on just before her car sank. The pressure of the heavy automobile sinking pulled her under momentarily, but she popped right back up.
“It was freezing,” McGill said. “My toes were blue. My fingers were blue. Everything felt like it was frozen on me.”
Patrolman Chris Roberts came to the scene to help and went into the cold water and pulled McGill to safety. McGill was taken by ambulance to a local hospital but was back home a few hours later. She was sore, tired and had some minor cuts, but had no broken bones.
Her mother, Lori McGill, sat on a swing with her arms around her daughter at the family home a few miles up Lamey Bridge Road from the crash site. She thanked the officers profusely for saving her daughter.
“I feel like I just won 10 million lotteries,” Lori McGill said. “I won the biggest lottery of all. I have got my daughter here. I don’t care about anything else. I don’t care if they recover the car. I don’t care if the insurance doesn’t pay for it. That’s all that matters.”
Roberts said McGill handled the situation the best way possible. He said, like McGill, others in the same situation shouldn’t panic, even though that can be very difficult. Removing the seatbelt and rolling down windows immediately is also important, because as McGill knows, sometimes electric windows don’t work for long when a car goes under water. Pressure against the doors also may keep them from opening. Some companies sell “auto safety tools” that have blades to cut a seatbelt and also a device to shatter autoglass for motorists who find themselves trapped after a crash.
Roberts said McGill should be commended for not losing her composure.
“She was the hero,” Roberts said. “She did exactly what she was supposed to do.”
Patrolman: ‘It was like God put me here’
- Sun Herald
D’Iberville Patrolman Michael Knapp was at the Tchoutacabouffa River bridge on Lamey Bridge Road to check water levels Wednesday when a car went into the water in front of him.
He had a life jacket in his truck and he threw it to the driver, 19-year-old Carrie McGill, who grabbed it.
McGill was sitting on the car and floated until patrolman Chris Roberts helped her from the waters of the river
McGill was taken to a local hospital, but had returned home later Wednesday.
Knapp said he was glad to be able to help.
“It was like God put me here,” Knapp said. “If I hadn’t been here, she wouldn’t have made it.
Miss. woman rescued after car plunges into river
The Associated Press
D’IBERVILLE, Miss. — A 19-year-old Mississippi Gulf Coast woman was driving to work Wednesday when her brakes locked and her car plunged into a river.
Luckily, two D’Iberville police officers rescued Carrie McGill from the chilly waters of the Tchoutacabouffa (CHEW-tah-kah-buff).
McGill tells The Sun Herald that she climbed out one of the car windows.
Officer Michael Knapp happened to be checking river levels and saw the accident. He tells WLOX-TV he grabbed a life jacket and tossed it to McGill. She wrapped her arms around it just before the car pulled her under.
Officer Chris Roberts arrived as McGill resurfaced, and he swam out to pull her from the water. She says she had only cuts and bruises and was grateful to the officers.
