you know, it was a deep breath. there s a sigh of relief there. my first thought was, am i 100% sure we have everyone? and when that was verified with everyone else who was on scene, it was good to see everyone s faces. dennis, claudia and suelina suffer minor injuries but the psychological trauma is harder to leave behind. i mean, i m still processing it. i ll be processing it for the rest of my life. the bridge has been rebuilt and the culvert opening grated up. signs are posted in the river to protect kayakers from getting too close. but if they do, firefighters and first responders will be there. i think give or take two or three minutes they were going to drown. without a question of doubt if we didn t take the actions we did. public service i used to think is politicians. it really changed my view of how necessary these jobs are.
a way out. jay communicates with chris russo while inside the tunnel and they come up with a plan to pull them out against the raging torrent. how long you got? i need 35 feet. i m coming for you. don t worry. the water was coming in very fast. at that point the water inside the culvert was swirling around like a whirlpool and we could see the tide rising. and you know, we had very, very little space. i m going to say anywhere from 8 to 12 inches to the top of the culvert. you got that? this is your line. tie it to your jacket. tie the knot right in there. untie that knot. pull that out of the jacket. it s a loop knot. i want you out of here jay. jay and suelina wrap themselves in the rope and prepare to escape from the dark confines of the tunnel.
kayak, the ladder and the edge of the culvert. thank god he wasn t a giant guy and i could actually lift him up and get him on the ladder and move him to safety. i got him. under the arms. under his arms. i was pretty exhausted. i knew that there wasn t much more that i could do, but i was also, at that point, had been prepared to if somebody threw me a rope, i would have gone back and tied it on to suelina. dennis and claudia are safe. suelina is still trapped inside the tunnel but she s not alone. i m going to send you a rope and a life jacket. a rope and a life jacket. jake king is the first firefighter to arrive at the bridge after the 911 call before the camera starts to record. he hears the desperate cries for help and decides he can t wait for more firefighters to come.
so i jumped in the water and i was sucked into the culvert. but i did get inside. suelina relies on her yoga training to remain calm but realizes she may not survive. at a certain point i guess kind of an unconscious prayer. just said, you know, if you have to take me, i ll go. so i was kind of really ready when literally at about that time, you know, this person comes up from the water. and grabs a hold of me, and he says, i m firefighter jake king. hold on tight, or we re both going to die. it was like, you know, he woke me up from a kind of reverie where i was starting to kind of fade. and he said, okay. this is extremely dangerous, but, you know, i m going to find
rushing water. gasping for air with every ounce of strength she can find. i m just exhausted. i ve been down there so long and i can t, my head is going under the water. and, i m still thinking i m going to drown and chris is on the ladder and it was like he was, just like pouring his life force into me and i could raise my arm and he could grab hold of my arm. after 45 terrifying minutes, suelina is pulled to safety, but jay king is still trapped in the tunnel. i knew as a rescuer, rescuers are always last. but like anything, i just want to get out. on this line, this side of the ladder. you ve got to move this line underneath the ladder. i ll get you out of this.