Local Emergency Workers Honored For Rescuing Family

The emergency responders who rescued a family from the water of Little River earlier this year were recognized on Monday.

In January, teams jumped into actionto help a woman and her two young children who were stranded in a Jeep, in rushing waters.  Rescue flight officers rode a 100-foot line down to help.

The Jeep had washed downstream from a river crossing.  April Bryant and her two children, Tori Hall and Jathon Reynolds, suffered hypothermia after spending the night in the middle of the river in the Jeep.

The family and rescue workers were reunited at a ceremony in Fort Payne on Monday afternoon.

“It is an honor to be here among heroes, and precious little angels that were rescued in this event that we are memorializing today,” said State Senator Shadrack McGill, who organized the meeting.

McGill and the little girl who was rescued presented resolutions to the Fischer Rescue Squad, State Troopers, DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies, paramedics, park rangers, and Adamsburg firefighters.

Then, the helicopter team demonstrated the type of long rope rescue by lifting McGill and taking him for a suspended ride.