Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Steve Grover was driving to a restaurant with family members about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when he heard a noise and then spotted something most unusual in the Wolf River.
What Grover and other bystanders did over the next few minutes might have saved the life of a young woman whose car somehow landed upside down in the river.
“I saw the vehicle floating,” Grover recalled Wednesday. “I’m just so glad we all were willing to do everything we could to help her.”
The woman, identified as Krystal Benoit, 28, who lives near the crash site north of Shawano, was listed in critical condition Wednesday at a hospital.
Police said she likely would not have survived being submerged in the river if not for the quick thinking and heroics of bystanders who jumped into action. In addition to Grover, 44, the others were Jerome Hoppe, 62, and Gary Effenberger, 57.
Capt. Tom Tuma of the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department said the three men pulled Benoit’s lifeless body from the submerged vehicle and got her breathing again before paramedics arrived.
Tuma called the bystanders’ actions “phenomenal” and said they might be credited with saving the woman’s life.
“They gave her the absolute best chance she had,” Tuma said.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused Benoit to drive a blue 2005 Ford Escape into the river. Police believe she was driving west on County Road A in the town of Wescott when, just before crossing a bridge over the river, the vehicle left the roadway and ended up in the water.
At the scene, sheriff’s officials initially reported mistakenly that the motorist had extricated herself from the submerged car. Officials later learned of the heroics of the three bystanders, among others.
Tuma said the sheriff’s department and the dive rescue team were also assisted by the Shawano Police Department, Stockbridge-Munsee tribal police, Wisconsin State Patrol and state Department of Natural Resources, along with other civilians who provided help.
“That was just one big team out there,” Tuma said.
Grover, who was on the scene before the vehicle even sank under water, said he quickly dialed 9-1-1 and then sprang into action with Hoppe, who lives nearby, and Effenberger, another passing motorist.
The vehicle sank upside down in 4 to 5 feet of water with only one wheel sticking up out of the water.
Effenberger recalled seeing the other two men pull a woman’s body from the car, and said he ran to the river’s edge to help them perform first aid. As the three men carefully balanced the woman’s body on a tree log, Effenberger said he helped steady her body while the others administered CPR.
Considering that the three bystanders were strangers, Effenberger said, they functioned with surprising teamwork, as though they had practiced for the situation.
“There was a calm order to what was going on,” he said. “It was incredible to see the cooperation.”
Hoppe could not be reached for comment.
Within a few minutes, the woman began breathing on her own, and the color started coming back to her face. Paramedics arrived, and the woman soon was in an ambulance on her way to the hospital.
Before going their separate ways, Grover, Hoppe and Effenberger took a few minutes to express thanks to one another — and to exchange congratulations on a job well done.
The sheriff’s department contacted all three men Wednesday to express gratitude for their efforts.
Grover said he hopes the incident inspires people to take action and help others in need during emergencies, regardless of the circumstances.
“Even if you’re not sure what you’re doing, give it your best shot,” he said. “It might make a difference.”