Moment woman is thrown into rapids during whitewater rafting trip in Colorado before she is rescued

This is the terrifying moment a woman is thrown into rapids while whitewater rafting down an icy Colorado river before being rescued downstream.

The woman, whose name was not disclosed, was on a trip with rafting company Performance Tours on Saturday when she suddenly fell out of the boat in the area of Sunshine Falls in Royal Gorge.

Harrowing close-up footage shows the woman, being tossed around by the raging river as someone on board tries to offer her an oar. She lets out shrieks as she is swept further away from the dinghy.

Company guide Chris Dean, and others are seen going into rescue mode, and is heard on the video directing, ‘Everybody in the middle, R2….Go left, boy…. go left’ … ‘Right here… C’mon.’ 

The woman is seen in life jacket and helmet on her back trying to stay afloat, as two different boats inch closer towards her. Moments later, she is able to grab the t-handle of the paddle and is pulled back on the raft though the paddle is seen second later disappearing under the waters.

Chris Dean, said ‘the guide (Greg) got us back on track and had us paddle towards her, and I was able to reach out to her with the T-handle end of my paddle and pull her to the raft where I could grab her’

The woman is miraculously rescued from the raging river. Though shaken, the rafter did not sustain any injuries. Dean captured the wild scene on his GoPro camera

Though shaken, the rafter did not sustain any injuries. Dean captured the wild scene on his GoPro camera.

Dean told Storyful, that as soon as the raft went over the falls it hit the river hard and the woman behind him fell in and was getting swept away.

During the rescue other team members that assisted.

‘The guide (Greg) got us back on track and had us paddle towards her, and I was able to reach out to her with the T-handle end of my paddle and pull her to the raft where I could grab her,’ Dean said.

He said post rescue. ‘I was pretty scared for her.’

‘I knew it was rough and I don’t want to be in the water either, so it was scary I think for everyone.’

And, described the experience as ‘pretty intense.’ 

‘I just had to react and get her out the best we could. Everyone was working together on the raft. The guide was giving us direction too,’ Dean said. 

The woman, whose name was not disclosed, was on a rafting trip with Performance Tours, a whitewater rafting tour company, on Saturday when she suddenly fell out of the boat while they were in the Sunshine Falls area of the Royal Gorge canyon. In this scene, she is getting swept further out down the river 

This clip shows the rafter trying to get back to the boat as she attempts to reach for the paddle 

Two boats are on the river. After the woman is pulled to safety she is seen dropping head first back into the raft after the terrifying incident 

‘They prepare you the whole time on the bus ride to get on the raft and make sure everyone’s gear is on correctly.’

Class four and five range is an expert level and means that the rapids are moving fast. The day the rescue took place the water was high.

‘The water levels in the Arkansas River are really high this time of the year due to all of the snow melting,’ he told the news outlet. 

Performance Tours Operations Manager Jim Crane told KDVR News that the whitewater rafting tour guides are properly trained and skilled in swift-water rescues. 

Extensive training is required for all guides who work for commercial rafting companies, he explained. Part of their training also involves teaching safety protocol to the rafters before they embark on the open waters.

Crane said safety is their number one priority. 

‘They are put though every scenario that would happen,’ he said.

‘We spend alot of time in really cold water. Our goal is never to scare someone from being a river guard but to prepare them for thoe high-stress situations.’ 

He said it is rare for rafters to fall into the water on commercial trips, but guides are expertly trained to handle those situations in case it happens.

‘Commercial outfitters in the state of Colorado are excellent. We all have excellent safety records and we put safety at the utmost of what we do,’ he said.

‘It’s our primary concern out there and getting people safely down the river.’

DailyMail.com has contacted Performance Tours for comment. 

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk