JACKSONVILLE, Texas — A fishing trip turned into a near death experience for two people this past weekend on the Neches River at the State Highway 294 bridge.
Brother and sister, Destry Yeager and Trina Sutton were fishing on the river when the incident happened Saturday.
"We (haven't) ever been down this part of the river before. So we decided to go there and take a new adventure for us. And it was an adventure," Yeager said.
An adventure that Yaeger and Sutton will never forget as their boat crashed into a log, flipping them over.
Yeager said he was able to rescue his sister from the water and put her on a log. He swam to the shoreline, but he said his sister has health issues and wasn’t able to swim on her own. Sutton was in the water for 12 hours on a cold spring night before she was rescued Sunday morning.
"I stayed there with her all night until daylight and I make sure that before I left, you know I could see her and I checked the woods and got down to the highway and finally got a vehicle to stop and call 911," Yeager said.
The Slocum Fire Department and game wardens responded immediately.
"We weren't sure if she was still holding on to this log, or if she was gonna be in the water, we were dreading to have to deal with a drowning," the game warden, Danny Kessel said.
When they finally found Sutton, Kessel said she was cold to the touch but she was talking and responding.
"We got a life jacket on her (and) rolled her into the boat. Brought her back up here where EMS was waiting," Kessel said.
Yeager said he and his sister suffered mild injuries but are glad to be alive and safely home.
Kessel advised that if you are doing water activities this summer, the first and most important equipment to have is a life jacket.