MONT BELVIEU, Texas – For one minute, Laura Adams was standing on a bridge magnet fishing, the next she found herself slamming into the water about 15 feet below. She says if it hadn’t been for her boyfriend’s quick thinking she might not be alive to tell her bizarre story.
“It happened so fast,” Adams said.
KPRC 2 obtained surveillance footage that shows why she says she’s lucky to be alive.
“When I hit the water I got knocked out,” she said.
She and her boyfriend John Marshall love to fish at the Old River near their home. On Sunday, Oct. 23rd, they decided to try magnet fishing.
“it’s just a big ole magnet on a rope with a hook on it. It picks up how many pounds? 1,320,” Marshall said.
The magnet intended to find metal underwater was attached to a rope she had tied around her wrist.
“As soon as I threw it, I saw it landed and the boat came flying from underneath the bridge, and they’re supposed to go slow right here because there’s a boat dock,” she said.
Adams says she was snatched off the bridge. Moments later you can see Marshall going in after her.
“At the beginning, I was in shock but I had to turn into survival mode and just jump in and get her, but seeing her laying down messes with me to this day. I thought she was dead,” Marshall said.
Adams survived, but not without scars that tell her story.
“All this (side) is bruised up and my hand all my muscles are torn up, I guess when I hit the water I broke this rib… it’s painful,” Adams said.
The couple says the boater left before officials could arrive and speak with him. They want their situation to serve as a warning for boaters to go slow near docks and bridges. Adams hasn’t been able to work because of her injuries.
A GoFundMe was set up for Adams. You can click here to donate.