STANWOOD — Carpet installers Nathan McGraph and Jeremy Darrow were driving to a job site Wednesday morning when they watched in horror as a car swerved across the road, flipped and landed upside down in the Stillaguamish River.
“We instantly knew we had to jump in there and try to save her,” McGraph, 29, said.
As the car started to sink deeper in the 47-degree water, the two men tried to get to the driver. Frustrated by locked doors, they used a hammer to smash open the windows.
Joined by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy, they reached into the car, feeling for a body.
“Finally I felt something that was kind of heavy and pulled her out,” McGraph said.
Julie Faragher, 16, a junior at Stanwood’s Lincoln Hill High School, wasn’t breathing when her rescuers brought her to the river bank.
The Stanwood police chief and a sergeant did CPR to resuscitate the teenager. She was rushed to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett where she remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon.
“It was definitely a team effort by everyone at the scene, and it was very emotional for all of them,” Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.
The girl’s family said she is improving, Stanwood-Camano School District spokeswoman Cathy Britt said.
“Julie’s family wishes to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the people who helped rescue their daughter and for the support they have received from friends and family,” Britt said.
The teen apparently was driving her red Dodge Neon just before 9 a.m. along Marine Drive NW when for some reason it skidded across the road and splashed into the river.
“I think it’s fair to say everyone just wants this girl to be all right,” Hover said. “We want her to make a full recovery and go back home to her family.”
Darrow, 27, whose parents own Darrow’s Carpet Services, said he hopes someone would do for him or his family what he did for Julie, if there ever was a similar accident.
“Hopefully she makes it,” he said. “We tried to give her a chance, at least.”
Everyone involved in coming to Julie’s aid deserves recognition, Hover said.
“Water rescues are dangerous,” she said. “Even a recovery mission can turn deadly.”
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com
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