Matt Thurston, pictured, his partner Jade Gianforte, his cousin Alan Theriault and two neighbors rescued two flooding victims from the Androscoggin River during the December storm. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen
RUMFORD — Jade Gianforte was feeding her chickens around 5:30 p.m. Dec. 19 when she heard hollering coming from the Androscoggin River by their farm.
Two motorists travelling north on Route 232 had driven into the water that had breached the banks of the river by the Ferry Road bridge.
One was clinging to a tree in the cow pasture; the other was closer to the river bank.
Matt Thurston, Gianforte’s partner, along with Thurston’s cousin Alan Theriault and two neighbors, used a rope, a life jacket, a tree branch and lights to rescue the pair.
Thurston said Gianforte raced through the pasture on foot while he and Theriault got ropes and jumped in the Kubota with it’s bright lights.
Thurston said Gianforte wanted to jump in because she is a strong swimmer, but he told her, “no, you’re not jumping in.”
When their neighbor, Harry, came out wearing a life jacket they decided to rescue the woman who was clinging to the tree. Harry jumped in and using a rope which ended up being too short they formed a chain and were able to pull her to shore. “Alan had my fingertips and we yanked her out,” said Thurston.
They said the other victim was down river a bit. “Grab the stick, grab the stick,” said Gianforte who had broken off a 6 foot branch and was reaching it out to him. “He was cold and he was in rough shape.” said Thurston. He finally grabbed it and Gianforte pulled him to shore. They transported both victims into the house using the Kubota. Their neighbor, Jess, a doctor, got them into a hot shower to start to warm them.
While they were looking out the window waiting for Bethel Rescue, they could see another vehicle in the water. They headed out to the victim with Thurston’s father’s large tractor. With their lights, they could see that he was sitting on the roof of his truck that was submerged. They decided the current was too rough and the water too deep to attempt to rescue him. Bethel firefighters, responding to a call for the first two victims, rescued the third victim using their boat, said Thurston.
Thurston said about 10 years ago his brother almost died on the river when his snowmobile fell through the ice. It was mid-winter, he had been in the river for an hour and a half and had to be airlifted out. He is OK now, he said.
“The current naturally swept them [the recent victims] toward the bank. If it wasn’t for that, they would have been goners … it’s powerful.” he said of the river.
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