UHP Trooper Jumps into River, Possibly Saving Girl’s Life

MORGAN, Utah – You can’t blame kids for wanting to cool down on a hot summer day.

Just head to Morgan, where you can see plenty of kids playing at the Riverside water park.

It’s certainly a lot safer than the nearby Weber River.

“We’re still having runoff here so the river is pretty cold,” said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Justin Adams while looking at the river.

Adams was off duty in Morgan this past Tuesday, when he got a call a young girl had fallen into the river.

Another trooper, who was also off-duty, heard the call come across the scanner as a possible drowning at Riverside Park and knew Adams would be in the area.

“So I just drove straight up. You can see my tracks. Just drove straight up to the grass,” said Adams while pointing to tire tracks in the grass at the park. “As I got out, I could hear a young woman just screaming her guts out.”

He ran to the edge of the river and saw her clinging to a branch as the water was rushing by.

“Right about here, you can see the dead branch she was holding onto,” said Adams, pointing to the edge of the river.

Without hesitation, he jumped into the rushing water and grabbed her.

“I put her arms around my neck and put her legs around my waist so I had a much better grip. I could touch the bottom and I just got her talking as much as I could just to calm her down,” said Adams.

He said the girl was telling him she just wanted to go home and see her grandmother.

Eventually, he was able to help get her out of the water.

He needed a little help himself from other people who showed up.

There’s a good chance Adams saved her life.

“I don’t know another cop that wouldn’t do the same thing. So it was a no-brainer for me just to jump in,” he said.

Thursday evening, the girl and her family came to the park to meet Adams and say ‘thank you.’

“Hi young lady! I’m glad you’re OK,” said Adams as he hugged 12-year-old Adrian Bishop.

It turns out, Adrian was only in the river because her little sister was also in the river and needed help.

“I grabbed her hand and I pulled her all the way in,” said Bishop to Adams, who was hearing the story for the first time as to why she was in the river.

In the process of helping her sister get out, Adrian got stuck herself.

“Every root that I put my foot on broke. And the branch that I was holding onto broke,” she said. “It was the scariest day of my life.”

Just a few minutes later, Adams arrived and jumped in.

“I am very grateful for him and I’m glad that he came and rescued me,” said Adrian.

Adams says he’s just happy everybody got to go home.

“We’re helping the public. And that’s all we signed up for,” he said.