River Rescue: Miles City BLMer Pulls Girls from Yellowstone River

On Aug. 4, 2013, two sisters swimming in the Yellowstone River in southeastern Montana were saved by a BLM employee after they were carried downstream by the swift river…

BLM Miles City Fire/Fuels Range Technician Justin Hanley is credited with saving two sisters from drowning in the Yellowstone River on Aug. 4, 2013. Hanley lives with his wife near the south bank of the river where the incident took place, and he responded quickly to initial calls for help. BLM photo.

According to a local report, the girls - ages 10 and 14 - were playing in the Yellowstone when they were overcome by the strong flows and pulled into the deeper part of the river channel. Miles City Fire and Rescue Capt. Cameron Duffin said the girls were carried almost a mile downstream before being rescued.

Bureau of Land Management Miles City Range Technician Justin Hanley and his wife Carolina live near the Seventh Street Bridge where the incident occurred. He was alerted to the situation Sunday afternoon by the actions of the girls' frantic grandmother as she ran across the nearby Roche Jaune fishing access parking lot. The grandmother, with another child on her hip, was searching for assistance when the Hanleys spotted her from their front room.

"Carolina could see that something wasn't right; that we'd better check it out," said Justin.

After speaking with the woman, Justin ran to the river's edge with his wife. He soon spotted the victims and sprinted downstream along the south bank and onto the flood dike to get ahead of the girls.

"They were holding on to each other, each pushing the other up out of the river to get a breath; like a teeter-totter," said Justin.

By the time that Justin was parallel to the girls, he knew he had to go in, he said. He "kind of belly-flopped into the water" painfully catching his hip on the submerged, jagged edge of a concrete block. He back-stroked into the main channel.

"I felt the current grab me; it was strong enough to flip me back on my front," he said. Reaching the sisters, Justin grabbed both and headed back. Both girls were exhausted, he said, noting that he too was about to reach his limit. The older sister had aspirated water and was weak; she soon went unconscious.

As Justin made incremental progress towards the bank, he continually felt for the bottom but found only deeper water. After what seemed like forever, a combination of current and Justin's one-arm stroke got them to where he could occasionally feel gravel, and he pushed closer toward the shallows and the rescue personnel who were now atop the dike. Justin and the conscious younger sister were completely spent at that point, and shallow water came none too soon.

An east-facing view of the Yellowstone River where the near-drowning incident occurred Aug. 4. The river originates in Yellowstone National Park over 330 miles to the west. By the time it reaches the outskirts of Miles City, the river has grown considerably from numerous contributing tributaries. Photo by Mark Jacobsen.

Justin recalled standing in the shallows, catching his breath, as he listened to the resuscitation efforts on the 14-year old, out of sight and up on the dike.

"It seemed like forever," he said. He remembers people urging "Breathe! Breathe!" and finally hearing the welcome sound of the girl retching, breathing and coming to.

Both victims were whisked to the local Holy Rosary Healthcare unit by ambulance, and the 14 year-old was transferred to a Billings medical facility. The 10 year-old was later released, tired but otherwise uninjured.

Every year, reports of would-be rescuers who themselves become statistics are a reminder of how dangerous river rescues can be, especially without a life jacket. First responders and others who have had training can vouch for the fact that actually "going in" is the last resort, which may account for the reluctance of the paramedics who stayed on shore, even while Justin was struggling in the shallows to deliver the girls.

As for Justin, he knows full well the risks and dangers of the Yellowstone.

"It makes my hair stand on end," he said, as he recalled how deceptively strong the river's current was as it gripped him when swimming to the sisters. "I've seen that river take a whole live tree, pull it completely under till it disappears and then see the same tree come shooting out of the river way down stream."

But when asked what he was thinking, he was matter-of-fact.

"If those were my kids, I'd want someone to rescue them," he said.

And for two young sisters who again have their whole lives ahead of them, that makes all the difference.

By: Mark Jacobsen, public affairs officer, BLM Eastern Montana/Dakotas District

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Reprinted with permission from "The BLM Daily," August 29, 2013.