SADNESS WARNING: Mother of 2 drowns in vehicle; has chance to talk to husband before being submerged

[Kite_shugo]

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[B]Jennifer Wolfe and her husband James Wolfe are the parents to two young boys. Their mother died Monday after she drove into a retention pond and could not escape the sinking van.[/B]

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James Wolfe got the frantic call from his wife around 12:30 a.m. Monday. He rushed to the scene, but was not in time to save Jennifer Wolfe from a watery grave.

[quote=why does this have to happen]

A Florida woman sinking to her death in a St. Petersburg pond frantically called her husband as her minivan filled with water to tell him she’d been run off the road by another motorist.

[B]Jennifer Lee Wolfe, 35, also managed to call 911 around 12:30 a.m., but the call was disconnected and rescuers didn’t reach the scene until nearly an hour later.[/B]

By then it was too late — the mother of two had died in a watery grave within her 2004 Honda Odyssey.

[B]“She begged me to come find her, she said nobody stopped and nobody saw what happened,” her husband, James Wolfe, told WFLA-TV. “I heard her kind of scream, and then it sounded like water.”[/B]

Jennifer Wolfe, the only one in the van, told her husband she was off for a quick trip to Walmart.
But cops say she lost control of the car, hit a sign and veered across oncoming traffic before ending up in the small pond along Scherer Drive.

Wolfe was just minutes from the family home.

Police are looking for witnesses to the crash and plan to review surveillance video from nearby businesses.
"Was this just an accidental issue where a car didn't see her and cut her off, and caused her to swerve in there, or was there some sort of road rage issue going on?" St. Petersburg Police spokesman Mike Puetz told WTVT-TV.

Wolfe was a mother to a two boys, ages 9 and 11, and was attending a nursing program, her husband told the Tampa Bay Times.

The family had moved to the area just about a year ago.

[B]James Wolfe headed to the scene to try and find his wife minutes after getting the 911 call.[/B]

He called 911 himself just before 1 a.m.

[B]"She sounded panicked, I couldn't barely understand what she was saying,” James Wolfe told WTVT of his final, heartbreaking conversation with his wife. “She was saying someone pulled out and ran her off the road and now she was in a pond and she could not get out of the car. I kept trying to tell her to get out of the car. Whatever you can do, get out of the car. Get out of the car. She said for whatever reason, she couldn't.”[/B]

The van landed on a second car, a sedan police believe had been in the 15-foot deep pond for quite some time.

The other car is believed stolen, cops said.[/quote]

This is so horrible I can't really come up with much words to say... this father experienced true heartbreak and I can't even fathom it. Hearing the water rush in the car on the phone and your wife speak her last words.. fuck man.

Noone stopped to help her.. noone saw... she died in watery grave that noone should ever have to experience.

I'll let the rest of these unnerving pictures paint the picture.

[img]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1717207.1394501669!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/wolfe11n-2-web.jpg[/img]
[I]Jennifer Wolfe, 35, told her husband she’d been driven off the road and into this pond, where she sank to her death.[/I]

[img]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1717208.1394501670!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/wolfe11n-1-web.jpg[/img]
[I]Just the front of Wolfe’s Honda Odyssey can be seen in the St. Petersburg retention pond where it sank, trapping and killing the driver, a mother of two.[/I]

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[I]Police broke the van’s window and pulled the woman out, but she could not be saved. They later pulled the vehicle from the pond — and found a second car sitting in the bottom of the St. Petersburg retention pond as well.[/I]

[url]http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-woman-drowns-driving-retention-pond-article-1.1717209[/url]

[CMX]

I wonder why she couldn't get out.
The sliding doors shouldn't be too hard to open against the water compared to the front doors.

[No_Excuses]

Pretty much my worst fear right there. So sad though...

[Jake]

[QUOTE=Cmx;44201295]I wonder why she couldn't get out.
The sliding doors shouldn't be too hard to open against the water compared to the front doors.[/QUOTE]
The pressure's got to be equalized before you can open the doors. So, really, the best thing she could have done was roll down the window as she was sinking.

[mobrockers]

[QUOTE=Cmx;44201295]I wonder why she couldn't get out.
The sliding doors shouldn't be too hard to open against the water compared to the front doors.[/QUOTE]

Sliding doors don't retract into the vehicle but slide outwards, perhaps even that was too much pressure?

[Zambies!]

If only she had called 911 first :( I wish panic wasn't a human emotion.

[mobrockers]

[QUOTE=Zambies!;44201411]If only she had called 911 first :( I wish panic wasn't a human emotion.[/QUOTE]

She had. The call got disconnected.

[Nukefuzz]

[QUOTE=Cmx;44201295]I wonder why she couldn't get out.
The sliding doors shouldn't be too hard to open against the water compared to the front doors.[/QUOTE]

The sliding doors in the 2004 model are automatic, they're kind of hard to push up above water, I can't imagine it being easy underwater. But she couldn't break a window or roll them down? Hm.

[Paige]

[QUOTE=Zambies!;44201411]If only she had called 911 first :( I wish panic wasn't a human emotion.[/QUOTE]

she did call 911, but they didn't get there till an hour later.

[DeeCeeTeeBee]

Despite living in the middle of a very urban city, I know two different people who keep those window-smashing-hammer-things in their cars out of fear of things like this. If people were a little bit more paranoid, things like this could be avoided. Pushing open a door is very difficult underwater, due to pressure differences.

[sloppy_joes]

Yeah you can't break the car window or open the door when you're submerged due to the pressure.

[Kite_shugo]

[QUOTE=DeeCeeTeeBee;44201478]Despite living in the middle of a very urban city, I know two different people who keep those window-smashing-hammer-things in their cars out of fear of things like this. If people were a little bit more paranoid, things like this could be avoided. Pushing open a door is very difficult underwater, due to pressure differences.[/QUOTE]

I own one of these for this very reason. I'll always keep one; and also try to remember to roll down my windows if I ever knew I was about to start sinking into water

[dai]

[QUOTE=DeeCeeTeeBee;44201478]Despite living in the middle of a very urban city, I know two different people who keep those window-smashing-hammer-things in their cars out of fear of things like this. If people were a little bit more paranoid, things like this could be avoided. Pushing open a door is very difficult underwater, due to pressure differences.[/QUOTE]

I'd be paranoid enough to say keep a utility on your keychain, I always worry that if there's a crash or the car flips or something my phone would be out of reach, let alone something I've often seen people set in a junk tray or in the middle console that flips open real easy. The chain shouldn't leave the column, so so long as you're still in your seat it's exactly where you think it is

also how hard is it to use just a normal housekey or whatever to break the window, I know that once you're underwater there's a lot of pressure, would that make it easier or harder

[Kite_shugo]

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;44201495]Yeah you can't break the car window or open the door when you're submerged due to the pressure.[/QUOTE]

you'd still be able to break the window if you had the tool we're talking about.

This one for example
[img]http://images1.vat19.com/covers/large/bodygard-esc.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.vat19.com/dvds/body-gard-5-in-1-emergency-tool.cfm[/url]

that tool has a piston Spring-loaded glass breaker; that can be used underwater to break car windows

[sloppy_joes]

if you have a special tool designed for that purpose, sure. some frantic woman isn't going to be able to break the window on her own.

[Kite_shugo]

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;44201591]if you have a special tool designed for that purpose, sure. some frantic woman isn't going to be able to break the window on her own.[/QUOTE]

I was just showing you the tool that can also break windows underwater; I understand that in the situation it would be improbable; but these stories have to act as lessons for all of us. Reading this story just makes me think about how easy death knocks on someones door

[sloppy_joes]

[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;44201617]I was just showing you the tool that can break windows underwater; I understand that in the situation it would be improbable; but these stories have to act as lessons for all of us.[/QUOTE]

true, i was just saying that she couldn't save herself for that reason.

[Kite_shugo]

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;44201621]true, i was just saying that she couldn't save herself for that reason.[/QUOTE]

I'm still thinking about the fact that noone saw her go into the lake/helped her after seeing it happen; and ESPECIALLY the person who caused her to run off the road. Shitty fucking situation all around

[General J]

Isn't it once the entire car is submerged the pressure equalizes, and then the door can open?

[mobrockers]

[QUOTE=General J;44201681]Isn't it once the entire car is submerged the pressure equalizes, and then the door can open?[/QUOTE]

Yes, but that means the inside of the car is mostly flooded with water as well.

[CaptainJL]

[QUOTE=General J;44201681]Isn't it once the entire car is submerged the pressure equalizes, and then the door can open?[/QUOTE]
Yep. Once all the air has escaped the inside of the car, it shouldn't require much effort at all to get the door open. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know this or otherwise don't have the clarity of mind to think about that when the car is sinking.

[ieptav]

[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;44201649]I'm still thinking about the fact that noone saw her go into the lake/helped her after seeing it happen; and ESPECIALLY the person who caused her to run off the road. Shitty fucking situation all around[/QUOTE]

Not that I have any clear understanding about the lighting situation there, it probably wouldn't be too hard to miss something like that around midnight.

[SEKCobra]

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;44201495]Yeah you can't break the car window or open the door when you're submerged due to the pressure.[/QUOTE]

You can break car windows all the same underwater. High heels, or really any pointed object can break the glass with ease, a center punch just makes it incredibly easy.

[bord2tears]

[QUOTE=mobrockers;44201699]Yes, but that means the inside of the car is mostly flooded with water as well.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. I doubt most people could maintain the calm needed to hold their breath and then exit. Even then, they would have to wait until fully flooded - a fairly long time for some people to hold it.

[IceBlizzard]

[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;44201569]you'd still be able to break the window if you had the tool we're talking about.

This one for example

that tool has a piston Spring-loaded glass breaker; that can be used underwater to break car windows[/QUOTE]

every car should have such tools within reach

[Saturn V]

Isn't the pressure equalized when the car is fully filled with water?

If so, shouldn't you be able to keep your head above the water before it's fully filled and when it is you just open the door and get out?

But if you find yourself sinking into a body of water, shouldn't you first try smashing the side window open and crawl out as fast as possible?

[mobrockers]

[QUOTE=Saturn V;44201874]Is the pressure equalized when the car is [B]fully filled with water[/B]?

If so, shouldn't you be able to keep your [B]head above the water[/B] and once it's filled you just open the door and get out?

But if you find yourself sinking into a body of water, shouldn't you first try smashing the side window open and crawl out as fast as possible?[/QUOTE]

????

[TheTalon]

[QUOTE=DeeCeeTeeBee;44201478]Despite living in the middle of a very urban city, I know two different people who keep those window-smashing-hammer-things in their cars out of fear of things like this. If people were a little bit more paranoid, things like this could be avoided. Pushing open a door is very difficult underwater, due to pressure differences.[/QUOTE]

The hammers are useless if you're already under water unless you can somehow put some force behind them, which is way harder to do when under water. I have a similar device on my keyring (I live next to the ocean after all), but it's spring loaded. So once you press the tip into the glass, after so much pressure (About 10 pounds worth) The spring and the tip act like a firing pin in a gun almost

Smaller than an ink pen, will shatter a car's window like nothing and all you do is just push it a bit

the Mythbusters also tested this out, waiting for the pressure to equalize in a car if you go into the water. They found out that sometimes the pressure doesn't equalize enough for minutes after being completely submerged

[Elv02]

[QUOTE=mobrockers;44201948]????[/QUOTE]

I think he meant keeping your head above water until it's filled, then opening the door.

[Bright Lights]

[QUOTE=DeeCeeTeeBee;44201478]Despite living in the middle of a very urban city, I know two different people who keep those window-smashing-hammer-things in their cars out of fear of things like this. If people were a little bit more paranoid, things like this could be avoided. Pushing open a door is very difficult underwater, due to pressure differences.[/QUOTE]

Unless you have plastic windows like my jeep does there is litterally no reason not to have one of these.

Honestly escaping a vehicle in the water needs to be mandatory for driver's ed