"Thank God she came to:" Police officers, witnesses recount weekend rescue from Milwaukee River

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- It only took seconds, but what happened in the following few minutes might have meant the difference between life and death. 62-year-old Jackie Triplett is clinging to life after a close call in the Milwaukee River on Saturday night, July 12th. On Monday, Milwaukee police officers talked about the dramatic rescue.

"All of a sudden she went to jump on there and she just disappeared. Her head was gone and everything," Ann Bogart said.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

"It was a split second," Bogart said.

Bogart thought she saw something strange happen near the dock at Pere Marquette Park from her boat, but she wasn't sure.

"We pulled in here and said 'did you guys see that?' We were talking to everybody and they were like 'no.' I said 'I swear to God somebody just fell in there,'" Bogart said.

That somebody was 62-year-old Jackie Triplett -- who looked like she was trying to jump onto a picnic table on the doc.

911 was called immediately, as Tim Forester, who had been on Bogart's boat, began searching for Triplett with a hook pole.

"Police showed up, probably two minutes after," Forester said.

"I got here and it was pretty chaotic. People were running and screaming. Officer Todd Boland actually had his flashlight looking between the boards for her. He said, 'hey there she is.' And he said 'I can`t reach her.' I was able to reach out under and grab her shirt," Milwaukee Police Officer Rick Bungert said.

"They saw a white T-shirt and pulled her out," Bogart said.

"She was on her back and she was foaming at the mouth. At that time MFD showed up and they were there and they took over CPR," Officer Bungert said.

Triplett was revived and was taken to St. Mary's Hospital.

For Officer Bungert, it's a situation where training takes over.

"You do stress out a little bit. You get tunnel vision. You only think of that certain something you`re working on," Officer Bungert said.

"Thank God for the fact that she came to and they got her back alive," Bogart said.

Triplett remains at St. Mary's Hospital. Her sister tells FOX6 News she is no longer in a coma, but she remains in critical condition.

At this point, it is unclear whether she has any permanent injuries.

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