Sesser woman's car tumbles into icy waters east of Du Quoin

A Sesser woman identified as Kaitlin Hutson who was eastbound on Park Street Road at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning lost control of her car and tumbled into the ditch-filled backwaters of the Little Muddy River.

For Du Quoin Fire Department Captain John VanVoorhis and other first responders it was like a scene out of 'Chicago Fire.' Air bags and side curtains had gone off. The car was badly damaged from hitting a tree as it rolled through the ditch. There was icy water in the car.

VanVoorhis donned what's known as an "ice suit" as firefighters pulled a ladder from the truck and stretched it from the bank down to the rocker panel of the car below the passenger side door. Firefighters lowered a backboard down to the car and Hutson was able to climb across the front seat to the passenger side door and lay down on the backboard. Firefighters then steadied the backboard as they used the ladder as a slide and pulled the woman to high ground.

An ambulance from the Pinckneyville Ambulance Service was waiting nearby. Hutson was given blankets in the warm ambulance and checked for injuries. She was shaken, but escaped serious injury.

A rollback wrecker from Watt's Towing pulled the car out of the ditch.

The woman, in her 20s, told authorities she was headed for Du Quoin and swerved to miss an animal.