D-C Radio: WTOP Reporter Rescues Woman From Freezing Water

Two strangers out to take photos of a beautiful, snowy night ended up in a life-or-death situation together in the height of last Sunday’s snowstorm, according to the WTOP website.

After leaving work around 4 p.m., WTOP reporter and photographer Dave Dildine headed over to Rock Creek Park. He’d been angling for a shot of Boulder Bridge in deep snow at dusk for awhile and knew the storm would be an ideal opportunity to finally capture that scene.

He succeeded, packed up his gear and began the mile-long hike back to his car.

As he neared Western Ridge trail head on Broad Branch Road around 6 p.m., he heard a muffled moaning noise and faint screaming.

“I looked over this railing and saw her flailing around in this pool of water,” Dildine recounted a day later, standing in the exact spot where he spotted a woman drowning in the creek.

“I shouted, ‘Hang on! I’ll be right there,’ … went down to the creek, which at that point was pretty deep and yelled for her to swim toward me. ‘Come toward the shore,'” Dildine said.

Chest deep in water, Dildine grabbed the collar of the woman’s jacket and brought her above the surface.

“I remember screaming,” Sarah Kirkpatrick told WTOP two days after the rescue. “I didn’t know anyone was out there. I remember seeing Dave when I was losing it — when I was going under.”



Minutes before she fell, the 27-year-old said she was also trying to take a picture of the snow.

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