WESTFIELD—Serenity Smart-Small and her wife Tara Smart-Small were just trying to cool off when they experienced one of the scariest moments in their lives.
The women became submerged in mud along the Westfield River shoreline last Thursday, after they were swimming and came to shore. One of the women became so submerged that she couldn’t get out and had to be rescued from the mud.
“We were walking back along the river and the rocks were hurting our feet, saw a grass patch and thought it would feel better on our feet,” Serenity Smart-Small said.
“First step into the grass I went knee deep into the mud and just sort of laughed it off—then I took two more steps and went from knee-high to waist-high.”
Smart-Small’s wife followed, becoming stuck in the same mud as her. They both tried to get out of the mud, at first frustrated that they were stuck. They tried walking, tried climbing, but nothing was working.
And even worse—they were going deeper and deeper.
“I tried army crawling but that didn’t work,” Smart-Small said. “So now instead of waist-high I’m now neck-high.”
The two began to panic.
They are stuck in mud, unable to get out and are in an area where there are no houses and no people around. They are yelling for help but no one is answering them or coming to their aid. Also, they are unable to reach their cell phones, so they can’t even call 911.
Eventually, Smart-Small began to shiver, which prompted her diminutive wife to spring out of the mud with a sudden rush of adrenaline. After about 45 minutes of struggle, one of the women were free.
“She knew it was bad when she saw me shivering in 90-degree weather,” Smart-Small said. This is what she thinks prompted her wife’s sudden heroics.
Smart-Small’s wife called 911 and attempted to explain where they were located to dispatchers. Unable to locate exactly where they were, they requested that she go out and attempt to wave them down when they come to the area. However, there was no clear way to get to where they were.
Eventually, a police officer arrived. He came across the river and started to help Smart-Small. The officer and her wife used a Y-shaped branch and put it under Smart-Small’s arms, then pulled and dug, pulled and dug, until she eventually became dislodged from the mud.
Paramedics and firefighters arrived shortly thereafter, but were on the other side of the river and unable to bring equipment around. However, Smart-Small and her wife were able to fjord the river and reach the paramedics, where they transported her to Baystate Noble with some minor numbness and tingling in her feet.
However, it could have been much worse.
