Coos County deputies save woman swept down Coquille River

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A young woman was swept downstream in fast water along the South Fork of the Coquille River Wednesday afternoon, according to the Coos County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies received a call from the young woman’s sister around 3:30 p.m. saying that the two of them had been spending time at Albert Powers Park off Powers Highway before the incident began.

The sister said the young woman in the water did not swim well, and deputies Myrtle Point Fire “dropped what they were doing to respond and assist in any way possible.”

At the river’s edge between Milepost 8 and 10, deputies found the woman clinging to a tree limb – terrified with a raft that was losing air and taking on water.

Once authorities came within voice contact of the woman, they “entered the fast-moving water [to] get within the distance to throw a rope” that she tied around her boat.

Several members of the sheriff’s office pulled the woman to shore. They say the last of the raft’s air leaked out as they pulled her out.

The woman, whom CCSO did not name, did not suffer any injuries and left the scene with her mom.