EMIGRANT - A Montana Highway Patrol trooper is being credited with saving a woman's life after wading into the Yellowstone River and breaking a window in a partially submerged car.
Trooper Connor Wager responded Thursday to a report of a rollover crash on River Road south Emigrant, according to a post on the Montana Highway Patrol's Facebook page.
Wager found a car on its roof in the freezing river water with the front end submerged and the driver trapped inside, the patrol said.
"Realizing that this was a potentially life-threatening situation, Trooper Wager tethered himself with a rope and entered the frigid water making his way through the fast moving current to the overturned vehicle," the patrol said in the post. "The strong current prevented the rear hatch from opening, so he broke through the rear window with a rescue tool and pulled the woman out of the vehicle."
First responders helped Wager and the woman to shore. The woman was treated by emergency medics and Wager was treated for minor injuries at Livingston HealthCare and later released, the patrol said.
