Rescue at Edgewater Park: An Eyewitness Account

By: Rudy Giecek

We were contacted by Miranda Elslip through one of our social media sites. She and her family were enjoying a hot day in Skagit County at Edgewater Park when a near drowning happened just down from them.

“We heard a man yelling for help downstream, but it wasn’t very loud and there were at least fifty people on the beach near him. My husband thought he was playing at first until we also heard a little kid screaming for help. My husband ran the couple hundred feet and jumped in. He was able to pull the little girl out.”

Miranda’s husbands name is Matt Elslip. He acted quick and we can only wonder what might have happened if  he had not.

“He then saw the mom bouncing off the bottom of the river and every time she emerged for more air, she was saying, ‘help.’ He grabbed her and pulled her out too. Then another person pulled another child out..and it seemed like there was still another child missing because the parents were screaming,  ‘Amelia.’  She was pulled out downstream by another group of people. After we heard that everyone was breathing and seemed okay we left. It all happened so fast.”

It seems there were quite a few local heroes today at Edgewater Park!