Nebraska Girl Rescued from Drainage Pipe
OMAHA, Neb. --
A west Omaha girl has a story to tell about Monday's severe weather that she won't soon forget.
Sophia Bouzis, 11, was sucked into a storm drainage pipe near her home at 208th and Pacific streets. She slipped in a ravine that was filled with runoff from the heavy rains that fell during the storm.
Sophia Bouzis shows the pipe she was stuck in following Monday's storm.
"All of a sudden I was going down into that pipe. I can feel it digging into my back because the current was coming on top and the bottom. My dog came over here and grabbed my wrist and he was helping me get out," Bouzis said.
Her mother, Julie, and 16-year-old sister, Kathleen, heard Sophia's screams and tried to get her out of the pipe.
"I was holding her arm and I had this leg planted in the mud and this leg was in the water; I wasn't letting go," her Kathleen said.
A neighbor also came to help, but they were not able to get Sophia out of the pipe until Omaha firefighters arrived.
Sophia's mother took this picture of the rain-swollen ravine.
The 11-year-old was stuck in the pipe a total of nine minutes. She has scrapes and bruises around her waist to prove it.
"I was so cold and I was just relieved to get out of there," Sophia said.
Through her ordeal, Sophia said she tried not to panic. She credits her Girl Scout leaders, her mother and her grandfather for teaching her to keep a cool head.
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