Wonder mum saved 2 girls as car sank

Updated on: 09 January,2009 08:57 AM IST |
Agencies |

A quick-thinking woman put her lifeguard experience to good use, saving herself and her two small daughters after their car slid off a road into a deep, frigid pond in the state of Indiana.

scary: The driver lost control of the car on a sharp turn. representation picture

"The car was submerged to the point where only about a foot of it was showing," said Lawrence County chief deputy Tony Siedl after Wednesday's accident. "It is hard to keep your wits about you and not panic in this type of situation."

Keep her wits is exactly what Kortni Peek did.

Peek (26) lost control of the car on a sharp curve with her daughters 8-month-old Maggie and 2-year-old Ella Rose inside.

"I had been a lifeguard, so I know the severity of the situation and the difficulty of getting out of water," Peek said. "I knew we weren't going to have long to get out."

As the car was sinking, Peek said, she was able to free the girls from their car seats and get them out the driver's side window. "I was worried the girls were getting too much water and dove under to keep them above," she said. When she got to the shore, Peek had to toss them onto land because of the steep bank.

Peek said she had never been so scared in her life. "Looking back, it seemed like it was in slow motion," Peek said. "But we really didn't have that much time."

"I knew I couldn't make it if I didn't save both of them."

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