By Christian Boone
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — For roughly 30 minutes, the sturdy hands of Forsyth County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Seabolt were all that stood between Sandy Callis’ head and the frigid waters of a shallow creek bed.
“I felt like we were there for an eternity,” the 25-year-old deputy told the AJC. Seabolt was one of the first to arrive Tuesday at Keith Bridge Road near Cantrell Circle, where Callis’ 2005 Buick LaCrosse had overturned down an embankment after swerving to miss an oncoming car.
“I didn’t know what I was going to see when I got down to that car, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good,” Seabolt said. The deputy, accompanied by Forsyth Sgt. Kenneth Yarbrough and fire and rescue personnel, spotted a baby’s car seat in the back. “I was afraid there was somebody else in the car, or in the water,” he said.
Fortunately, Callis’ son was baby-sitting her 3-year-old granddaughter, his niece, Tuesday. Callis, of Gainesville, was alone in the vehicle, suspended upside down with her knees pinned under the dashboard. A seat belt kept her head from total submersion, though when Seabolt arrived the 41-year-old mother of two was struggling to keep her head above water.
“She had her hands on the [roof] but half her face was still in the water,” Seabolt said. And the water was slowly rising as the melting wintry mix spilled into the creek.
From the embankment above, Forsyth County Fire Department spokesman Jason Shivers assessed the challenge facing rescue workers.
“The situation couldn’t be more critical,” he told the AJC, about 10 minutes into the rescue.
By that point, Michael Callis was on the other end of the county, desperately attempting to reach the scene. A little before 4 p.m. he had received a call from his wife’s cellphone, but a stranger was on the other end. Cheryl Riddle, who lives near the creek and called 911 after the accident, was calling at his wife’s behest.
“It was all I could do to maintain my composure,” Michael Callis said Wednesday from North Fulton Hospital, where his wife is being treated for broken ribs and a lacerated spleen.
Back at the scene, Seabolt grew increasingly worried about an onset of hypothermia. As Callis’ shivering became more intense, the young deputy assumed the role of comforter.
“I was afraid she was going to pass out,” he said. He wondered whether he’d be able to keep her head above water if she lost consciousness.
By the time firefighters removed the passenger door and began the process of extricating her, Callis was “shaking continuously. She was a trouper, but there were moments when she got real emotional,” Seabolt said.
Michael Callis was about four miles away when rescue workers lifted his wife to safety. Keith Bridge Road was closed due to the accident, and traffic was at a standstill.
“That’s about when Cheryl told me they were taking Sandy to North Fulton,” Callis said. He was there waiting when an ambulance arrived with his wife, wrapped up in layers of blankets.
Sandy Callis is just now starting to recall the events that led to her hospitalization, her husband said.
“She’s very lucky to be alive,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of thanking to do.”
Seabolt hopes to visit her soon. The five-year veteran has attended to accident victims before, but “yesterday was a little more demanding. It’s a day I’ll remember for a long time.”
Copyright 2010 Atlanta Journal-Constitution