Good Samaritan breaks car window to free 3-year-old girl from St. Peters pond
Austin Collins is one of several people who jumped into action to save girl from pond
ST. PETERS (First Alert 4) - One of the several people who saved a 3-year-old girl spoke out Friday about their experience, after a vehicle rolled into a pond in St. Peters with the girl inside.
Austin Collins said he was dropping off his kids at a school bus stop, when he saw the vehicle roll from a parking lot, down a hill, and into a pond.
“I just saw a big ol’ splash, and immediately everyone just ran over and took action,” Collins said.
Collins said he called 911 and then jumped into the pond to help 3-year-old Melody.
“I was honestly holding onto the vehicle to stay afloat,” Collins said. “I didn’t know how deep it was at the time.”
Collins said someone handed him a hammer, and he used it to break a window to free Melody. He cut his hand on the broken glass in the process.
“I knew that as soon as I grabbed the little girl, she would potentially get cut,” Collins said. “So I ended up just taking my hand and clearing as much glass as I could before I grabbed her.”
Family reacts
The mother of Melody, Megan Kohlhaas, said the quick response from others helped save her daughter’s life.
“Even just finding the hammer, and how fast someone was able to pass it on to someone in the water and break in, and that we had that time is just a miracle,” Kohlhaas said.
Collins credited Kohlhaas for how the group responded.
“Kudos to the mom. She definitely created that urgency early on so that we all could pull together,” Collins said.
Kohlhaas said she is thankful her daughter is alive.
“I’m just thankful she’s alive and I can’t stop thinking about the man and all the people that helped,” Kohlhaas said. “Without him, we would’ve lost her.”
Collins said the response shows what a community can do.
“It really outlines what we can do as a community when somebody is in need, we just all pull together,” Collins said.
What’s next for the family
A GoFundMe has been created to help Kohlhaas replace her car.
Information from investigators on why the SUV was able to roll away is pending.
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