A Kalama High School student suffered five cracked ribs and internal injuries Tuesday when she was pushed off a bridge at Moulton Falls in north Clark County, according to her mother.
Jordan Holgerson, 16, is recovering at PeaceHealth Southwest Washington Medical Center and is lucky to be alive, her mother, Genelle Holgerson, said by phone from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
“She is lucky she is not paralyzed or dead. We’re lucky she is going to recover and not have permanent injuries,” said Holgerson, who is a medical assistant at St. John Medical Center in Longview.
A video of the incident shows that Jordan Holgerson was in a swimsuit, standing on the open side of the railing, her feet on the wooden arch that supports the bridge. Bystanders are heard counting down, “3 ... 2 ... 1.” Jordan hesitates; then the arms of another young woman flash into the picture and push Jordan off the span while she was looking toward the water. Jordan falls in a flat, laid-out position, screaming and flailing her arms, before she’s heard splashing into the East Fork of the Lewis River.
It was not clear whether she got out of the river herself or had to be rescued.
Genelle Holgerson said the identity of the person who pushed her daughter off the bridge is known and that she is an adult. The woman was apparently impatient or upset that Jordan did not jump off the bridge on her own, Holgerson said.
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“I’m very upset with her. She is an adult, and I’m sure she should have known better. She could have killed my daughter.”
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the incident, did not return calls for comment Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to breaking her ribs, Jordan suffered a bruised esophagus, injured her trachea and got air trapped in the lining of her lungs, Genelle Holgerson said.
“She is alert but in pain and is very tired,” said Holgerson, who had been by her daughter’s side since hearing about the accident at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. She was not sure now long her daughter will be in the hospital.
Jordan has a twin brother and two older siblings.
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(3) comments
I think that the adult woman needs criminal charges fiied against her, how terrifying to be shoved off a bridge like that with no time to position yourself for a somewhat safe impact to thee water , shoved like that could've very easily paralyzed this young girl and if that adult woman that shoved her is a mother as well it makes it even more disturbing . disgusted that an adult would do that at such a height and with all the things that couldve went wrong or worse didnt think twice shoving this poor unsuspecting little girl off a bridge. i have a 14 year old daughter and if a grown woman did that to my child dhe would be in the hospital in the bed next to my daughter or at the very least in jail!
I would like to know why the idiot that pushed her isn’t in jail?
me too
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