A man was hailed as a hero last week, when he jumped into Snake River to save a woman who had just driven her can into the water.
Dane Entze, a 36-year-old man from Elk Ridge, Utah, was returning from an anniversary weekend break with his wife Kristen.
Over the weekend, the couple had been celebrating their 11th anniversary in Lava Hot Springs about an hour south of Idaho Falls.
When the incident happened, they were on their way to their relatives’ house to pick up their children.
As they were driving past the river, the woman, who was at the time looking down from the bridge, noticed a car driving down the ramp and into the water.
The couple knew that they had to help the person driving that car, but they had no idea how to approach that spot.
So, Dane, who was driving the car, took the next exit, made a circle, and tried to get as close to the stranger’s car as possible. At the same time, Kristen was calling 911.
When the couple got closer, they realized the car was floating and slowly going down, and a woman was swimming close to it.
Dane made his way to the woman, jumping a wire fence and running across the canal. When he got closer, he realized that it was not an accident. The woman wanted to end her life.
“I immediately asked if she was OK and whether there was anyone else in the car,” he said. “She replied, ‘I’m committing suicide and there is no one else in the car, I don’t want to live anymore.’”
The man, who was familiar with mental illness since his father was a volunteer for a suicide hotline, knew that he shouldn’t jump into the water at that time.
Jumping into the river would just scare the woman and it would make his job of taking her out of the water even more difficult.
So, he stood there and talked to her in hopes of making her change her mind and swim to the shore.
“I told her ‘I don’t know who you are, but I’m here, and I love you, and I’m going to help you,’” Entze said.
Although at first it seemed like the woman would follow him to the shore, at some point she changed her mind and started swimming away again.
That’s when he realized that he had to act quickly. So, he took off his jacket and jumped into the water. He wrapped his arms around and under the woman’s arms and carried her to the shore.
Thankfully, by then, another gentleman had arrived, and he helped Dane pull the woman out.
Kristen was waiting for them with blankets and, soon, the emergency services arrived to provide first aid.
Once everything was settled, the couple returned to their car and drove to pick up their kids.
This was definitely that woman’s lucky day, and a reminder that not all heroes wear capes.
Please remember that if you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Watch Entze recall the incident in the video below.
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