RDAU_2026-ISSUE0809_DIGITAL MAGAZINE

dropped the now-useless pistol into the river. But a second after his very last bullet hit the opposite shore, he heard a voice. “Hello?” “How are you feeling?” Reinhardt called to Bennett. “Freezing cold,” Bennett said. “Man, I’m barely able to hold on.” “I’m going to get you out of there,” Reinhardt said. “Hold on.” Bennett could not have picked a bet- ter rescuer than John Reinhardt. These days, Reinhardt worked as an informa- tion technology project manager and volunteered as a youth pastor, but he had fought in Afghanistan in the U.S. Army infantry, had received training in combat water survival and combat trauma, and had been a certified life- guard back in high school. As a disaster- recovery volunteer, he’d pulled people out of car wrecks, set bones and rescued puppies. He saw his skills and experi- ences as a responsibility to help others. Reinhardt ran back to his truck. “There’s somebody in the water who needs help,” he told his kids. “I’mgoing to have to get into the water.” He turned to his eldest, 13-year-old Maelie. “I’m going to need you to help me,” he told her. He instructed 8-year-old Macie to stay in the vehicle and look after her younger two siblings, ages 4 and 3. He knew it was only a matter of time before the exhausted Bennett lost his reader ’ s digest 110 grip on the branch andwas carried away by the current. If only he’d brought a rope along, he could have thrown it out to Bennett and hauled him ashore. Unfortunately, he didn’t have all his usual emergency equipment with him, as he’d recently bought this truck and hadn’t yet transferred over all his gear. He and Maelie scrounged for any kind of rope in their vehicle and Bennett’s. All they came up with was a 6-foot ratchet strap, an oversized trash bag and a roll of duct tape. With the bag and the duct tape, Rein- hardt knew, they could improvise a flo- tation device that he could use. And Maelie could hang on to the ratchet strap in case he could use it later. He would have to get into the water and swim Bennett back to shore—a dread- ful thought, considering how much Reinhardt despised cold water. Still standing next to his truck, he called 911 and gave the dispatcher a “nine-line”—a terse, just-the-facts accounting of what was going on and what was needed. He explained that he’d be getting in the water, so the first responders should prepare for the pos- sibility of two victims, not just one. The dispatcher had more questions, but Reinhardt cut in. “Hey, I need to get off the phone. I got to go help this guy.” He hung up and handed the phone to Maelie. “Be ready to call 911 if any- thing happens to me,” he told her. They ran down to the water, where he swooped the trash bag through the air to inflate it, then taped it shut. With Maelie by his side, he said a quick prayer. “Give me a calm heart, God. Guide my actions. Protect him, and protect me.” The base of the tree that Bennett was clinging to stood just downstreamof the boat ramp, leaning at a 45-degree angle over the water. Reinhardt stripped down to his underwear, climbed along the trunk above the current for a few feet, drew a breath and jumped into the water, holding the makeshift flotation device above his head. Within seconds, he reached Bennett. “Here, hold on to this,” he gasped, pass- ing Bennett the inflated trash bag. But Bennett couldn’t grasp the bag with his numb fingers, and it drifted off down the river. My fault, not his , Reinhardt thought. I made it too big to hold on to . “It’s OK,” he said. “We’re going to swim to shore.” “I don’t think I can use my legs,” Bennett managed to say. He’d been in the water for nearly an hour and was in the throes of Stage 2 hypothermia, with difficulty speaking and thinking, numbness, loss of motor function. Bennett draped his arms over Rein- hardt’s shoulders from behind, and they set out. Almost immediately, the REINHARDT’S HEAD WENT UNDERWATER AGAIN AND AGAIN, AND HE HAD TO FIGHT TO RESURFACE. Drama in Real Life readersdigest.com.au | august/september 2026 111