Lake Pueblo park rangers rescue woman trapped in collapsed kayak

Lake Pueblo State Park rangers rescued a woman from the Arkansas river Thursday after her folding kayak hit a log and collapsed, trapping her foot inside.

According to a Friday news release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the woman was boating with two friends when she hit the log. Bicyclists passing on the shore who saw the woman in distress called 911 around 3 p.m.

When rangers Jacob Sims, Daryl Seder and Cass Bailey and park maintenance technician Kelly Kohl arrived on scene, the woman was able to call out that her foot was trapped and she couldn’t move.

Seder put on a swiftwater rescue suit, tied safety ropes to the back and swam out to the woman, the release said.

“The water was about 3 feet deep and it was creating a bit of a current behind the log,” Seder said in the release. “She certainly was in danger, no doubt, being trapped like that. Especially if the log had shifted. Even wearing a life jacket, if she had gotten pulled into the current, facedown, it could have been bad.”

According to Friday’s release, Seder pushed the kayak into the current while pulling on her leg to release her foot.

A medical team from Pueblo West Fire Department checked the victim’s foot and ankle and, eventually, she was able to leave on her own.

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