By Tricia Pursell
SUNBURY — A quiet, solo protest against massive federal government spending ended in a city woman being rescued from the cold waters of the Susquehanna River on Wednesday morning.
Joanne Millard, 68, a resident at Riverfront Apartments, slipped on a rock and then fell into the water while dumping tea leaves from a plastic bag into the river to protest the recent trillions of dollars in government spending.
While tea party protests occurred in groups of thousands all across the country on Wednesday, Millard protested alone.
“I just felt at the time that no one else here would be interested,” Millard said.
Millard fell face down into the water after slipping. She was in the water for a total of about 10 minutes, she said, and then, around 11:30 a.m., management officials from the apartments, a police officer, and the ambulance, all arrived about the same time to pull her from the water.
She was taken by an ambulance from Americus to Sunbury Community Hospital, where she stayed for several hours until her temperature rose and there was no longer threat of hypothermia.
She received minor injuries, but was back home and doing well by Wednesday afternoon.
While April 15 is often viewed as an impersonal day of government take-back, this peaceful protest may have resulted in more good than originally intended by proving that heroism and opportunity for new friendship is alive and well.
Another resident of Riverfront Apartments — a woman named Hazel who declined to provide her last name had planned on driving Millard to the grocery store in the morning. When Millard didn’t meet her at the scheduled time, she remembered her neighbor’s plans to go to the river.
“Something hit me,” Hazel said, “she’s over at the river.”
That’s when Hazel immediately left the building in search of Millard.
“I practically flew over here,” Hazel said as she stood on the sidewalk of Merle Phillips Park, leaning on a cart owned by Millard, awaiting news of her neighbor’s condition. That’s when she saw her lying in the river.
Hazel attempted to pull her out, but couldn’t, so she hurried back to the apartments to alert management to the emergency.
Manager Wendy Herrold and two other team members hurried to the scene, while one member stayed on the phone with 911, Herrold said.
Herrold and just-arriving Police Officer Wade Lytle then pulled Millard onto the bank.
“We stayed with the resident (Millard), tried to provider her comfort until ambulance and all the crews had arrived,” Herrold said. “We are very pleased to hear she is in very good condition,” she added.
Once Hazel alerted management at the apartments, she left again to return to check on her neighbor.
Bobbi Zuback, of Sunbury, was walking her dog when she saw Hazel cross the road, and immediately went to see what was going on.
She stood comforting Hazel on the other side of the flood wall, while they waited for the news.
They could finally relax a little when they were told that Millard would be okay.
The two proved that good things can come from the bad.
“I sure made a friend,” Zuback said of Hazel as she held up her umbrella to keep them both dry in the rain.
