According to Wright, the teenage girl had been precariously deposited by the flood waters on a small piece of dry ground approximately four feet by four feet, and while rescue attempts were going on around her, she seemed unable to assist in her rescue.

“She was in shock,” said Wright. “She had been beaten up pretty bad by the water. There were trees and logs flying down through the water, not to mention all of the rocks and other things. People on the shore had tied a life preserver to a rope and were tossing it to her, but she wouldn't respond or pick it up.”

With the water continuing to rise, Wright said he didn't have time to think about it, he simply had to act.

“I ran upstream about 40 or 50 yards and waded across to the other side,” said Wright. “After that, I had to wade across another part of the water to get to her. Looking back, it's a miracle I made it through there. There were so many large objects being carried by the water. You never really understand the destructive force or power of water until you see it first hand.

“Once I got to her, I was able to grab one of the lines the people on the other side were throwing. I put the life preserver on her, and then tied the rope to my waist. That's when I realized what all was being pushed downstream.”

With the rope secured around him, Wright said he barely caught a glimpse of the log that was being hurried downstream — right for the rope spanning the water.

“It was only about four or five feet long,” said Wright, “but when it caught the rope I thought to myself, 'This is it.' It nearly took me off my feet. At that point I knew we had to get back across, and quick.”

Safely back on shore with the woman, Wright said the idea of being a hero never entered his mind when he decided to wade into the swift moving waters.

“I just reacted. I didn't think about it, I just reacted,” said Wright. “I wasn't trying to be a hero or anything like that. I just knew we had to get her out of there before she drowned. The water was rising and time was running out. We had to do something.”

Brenda Kirby, of the Dallas area, who was also at the site with family, said Wright's humble assessment of the event doesn't bring to light who the hero of the day was.

“Officer Wright and his family were guests at the Noisy Water Cabins, where my party was also staying,” said Kirby. “Officer Wright was quite humble and did not feel he was a hero. With approximately 20 people on the scene trying to find a solution to rescuing the girl, Officer Wright disappeared and suddenly appeared on the other side of the rushing water, which had swelled over the banks of the river and into the road. This was the same water on the road that swept the girl's friend away just moments earlier. There was a group effort on the part of many people, but Officer Wright was definitely the hero.

“Officer Wright was a hero in all of our eyes, and especially in the eyes of the girl and her brother, who was anxiously watching the rescue,” said Kirby. “A male friend of the girl had already been swept away by the flood waters.”

Kirby confirmed the unidentified woman who was rescued had been swept away with a male companion. His body was recovered from the flood waters Monday.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it