Bridge jumper pulled safely from river

Woman was rescued from the Chehalis River Wednesday.

A joint effort by the Aberdeen and Cosmopolis Fire Departments guided a woman safely to shore after she jumped off the Chehalis River Bridge and into the swift moving water below Wednesday night.

The woman sustained injuries from the leap into the water and was treated at the scene and then taken to Gray Harbor Community Hospital. Her name was not released, and without her name, news on her condition was not available.

The incident happened about 7 p.m.

Six units with eleven personnel arrived to find the woman already in the water. Respsonders on top of the bridge could see her floating on her back toward the north bank of the shore directly under the bridge. Her head was above water and she appeared conscious and alert, according to a news release.

The woman would not respond to verbal commands. Personnel from the Cosmopolis Fire Department were able to use Pakonen boat launch to put their boat in the water. The boat crew reached the victim within two or three minutes, but as they tried to lift her from the water, she screamed out in severe pain.

The woman was only 20 yards from shore at the time she was reached and a decision was made not to lift her into the boat, but instead hold onto her and bring her to shore. The boat crew was able to guide her to the shore where two Aberdeen Police officers and an Aberdeen Fire Department ambulance crew took her from the water and placed her in an ambulance.