‘Help! Somebody’s drowning!’ Woman recalls harrowing efforts to save girl pulled from Redfish Lake

STANLEY – A California woman vacationing in Stanley was called into action when a young girl was pulled from Redfish Lake Friday morning.

Jana Brocchini and her family had rented a cabin at the lake. They took off for a two-hour horseback ride around 8:30. As they were coming back, they heard someone screaming, “Help! Somebody’s drowning!”

“So I just took off running. When I (made it) over the sand there, a gentleman was literally pulling her from the water’s edge. I put her on her back and I took over,” Brocchini tells EastIdahoNews.com.

Brocchini is a registered nurse and describes the scene as “organized chaos” as she worked to revive the young girl. She spent the next thirty minutes performing CPR waiting for search and rescue to arrive.

RELATED: Child who died at Redfish Lake was 4 to 5 years old, authorities say

The temperature of the water in the lake was 54 degrees, according to Custer County Marine Deputy John Haugh, and the girl was not wearing a life jacket. But Brocchini and others who had come to the girl’s aid were hopeful she would make it as she was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Wood River Hospital in Ketchum and later flown to Boise Medical Center.

“I did get word that on route to the hospital…they were able to get a pulse and bring her body temperature back up to normal,” says Brocchini. “It was exciting for me to know that a half hour of CPR made a difference.”

But despite all efforts to save the young girl, she did not make it. Custer County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the girl’s death Saturday morning.

“I find some peace in the fact that we did our job long enough for this little girl to develop a heartbeat so her family could see her and obtain some sort of closure,” Brocchini says. “It wasn’t until after EMS left that people started scratching their heads, wondering what’s going on, and started asking questions.”

The Custer County Sheriff’s Office reported finding a kayak overturned in the water, and a pair of men’s boots on the bank. Authorities began an active investigation to try and learn what happened.

By Saturday afternoon, a dive team located a second victim who was apparently with the girl on the lake Friday. Details surrounding the relationship and death of the victims is still part of the investigation.

Though Brocchini is thankful she was able to help, she is heartbroken for the young girl’s family and says her death may have been prevented if she was wearing a life jacket.

“I spent time (Saturday) on the very place I was performing CPR (Friday), and I could pick out these young children who were on paddle boards and kayaks without life vests and I just was almost frantic. I wanted to approach these parents and say ‘You have no idea what just happened yesterday,'” she says.

Haugh is urging anyone recreating on the water to wear a life jacket.

“In this cold of water, if you don’t have a life jacket and you go in, you have 10 minutes or less to survive. It’s critical that children and adults carry a life jacket in any boats or paddle boats they’re on.”