3 weeks ago
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REEDLEY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - What was expected to beryllium a amusive time connected the Kings River turned into a combat for endurance for 1 of our station's reporters.
YourCentralValley's Juanita Adame was achromatic h2o rafting supra Pine Flat connected Saturday with her fiancé and her cousin's family. It was a travel planned 2 months successful beforehand that ended conscionable a fewer minutes aft boarding.
"It was 1 of the scariest experiences I've ever had successful my life,” Reporter Juanita Adame said.
She’s inactive successful daze aft a near-death acquisition connected the Upper Kings River.
"If that stream wants to drown you, it's going to drown you. I can't remember, like, each small portion of it, but I retrieve flashes,” Adame said.
Juanita looked guardant to achromatic h2o rafting with her household for the archetypal time.
"I retrieve the usher said 'hey, you guys are going to beryllium the archetypal ones to acquisition this.' Usually, we spell up six miles up the upland to travel backmost down. This clip we're going to spell up 10 miles to travel backmost down. So this was an A successful a way, benignant of similar uncharted territory,” Adame said.
Less than a week ago, Juanita shared h2o information tips for Memorial Day weekend. She followed the rules— she wore a beingness overgarment and learned however to antheral the raft. Her fiancé is simply a unpaid firefighter successful Reedley and a Fire Captain successful Selma. All the boxes were checked for a harmless outing, but things were already rocky.
"About 2 minutes in, I got thrown disconnected and I got sucked nether the raft and I had to aquatics nether the raft and travel up connected the different side,” Adame explained.
She climbed backmost connected the raft, but aft different minute…
"...We deed a truly large question and we deed a rock. We astir capsized. I got thrown disconnected and my cousin's woman besides got thrown off,” Adame said.
"She was successful determination for astir 2 to 5 minutes. It seemed similar 10 minutes astatine the time,” Adame’s fiancé Albert Rodriguez said.
Her cousin's girlfriend, Alexis, was rapidly pulled to safety. But Juanita was dragged by the current, bobbing successful and retired of the frigid water.
"At 1 point, I was truly acrophobic due to the fact that cipher could get to me. I'm a beauteous assured swimmer. But this was different. I had a beingness overgarment connected too, and I kept getting sucked underneath, pulled backmost out, sucked underneath. And truthful it was highly traumatic,” Adame said.
Her fiancé Albert made a split-second determination to leap successful the h2o to prevention her.
"Wasn't a bully happening to bash astatine the time. I should person stayed successful the boat. But being her fiancé and idiosyncratic adjacent to maine now, I jumped in,” Rodriguez said.
"I was successful what's called an 'eddy.' I conjecture it's benignant of similar a whirlpool, truthful nary of the rafters could get to me,” Adame said.
Albert was fortunately pulled backmost into the raft. Juanita’s household tried to scope her but couldn’t.
"...Then I conscionable benignant of like, fto go. And I thought, well, okay, I don't cognize what's going to hap close now, but we'll spot what happens,” Adame said.
Fatigue was mounting in, and Juanita fto spell of a stone she was holding onto. That’s erstwhile different rafters saw her successful panic and threw a enactment to her.
"There was different raft with immoderate guides connected it, and they threw a enactment retired to me, and I was capable to drawback the rope,” Adame said.
She’s chopped and bruised, but she is capable to locomotion distant from this
"I deliberation I was hyperventilating by this constituent due to the fact that I had been successful the h2o for a portion and the water's truly cold, some Alexis and I were benignant of like, 'what conscionable happened?'" she said.
Without a lifejacket oregon exigency instrumentality similar a rope, Juanita says she wouldn’t beryllium here.
"They archer america decease is simply a anticipation erstwhile you're connected that river. Like I didn't, I don't deliberation I took it arsenic earnestly arsenic I should have."
