Woman rescued after using air mattress to float Lake Texoma

LAKE TEXOMA, Texas — A woman was rescued Thursday after floating on an air mattress on Lake Texoma.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it all started when a man and woman were trying to use an air mattress as a raft to get out to a boat on Lake Texoma.

Fast forward to Thursday, Train Conductor Cristhian Sosa and Train Engineer Justin Luster were on their normal train route from Madill, Okla. to Irving, Texas when they say they saw a woman flailing her arms and screaming for help, holding an air mattress.

“She was literally laying on the ground waving one arm, basically her left arm, the one that her arm wasn’t stuck with her jacket and she was asking for help so we instantly knew she was hurt and she needed help,” Sosa said.

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She told them she had been floating on it for two days in Lake Texoma in the freezing weather.

“Well naturally we kinda thought maybe she was delirious, we really didn’t know what really happened and it wasn’t until we got to the crossing where highway patrolman had come out to find out her story was accurate, she had been floating on that air mattress for a solid day or two,” Luster said.

The train workers say the woman said she was separated from her significant other two days earlier on Lake Texoma.

“She had no recollection of time, she had said she had been there for almost two days hiding under an air mattress,” Sosa said.

Luster and Sosa said the woman identified herself as Connie to them, and they called 911 immediately.

Officers met the train at the next crossing.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the woman floated nearly 2 miles on an air mattress, by herself, before floating to land and finding her way to the railroad tracks.

“I guess she has a boat and some of her stuff started drifting away and she tried to catch it and before she knew it she was on top of her air mattress and she was a drift and there was nothing she could do and she ended up by the rocks,” Sosa said.

OHP said the woman had hypothermia and Bryan County EMS took her to the hospital to be treated but she is expected to survive.

“It was just kinda unexpected you know with the weather we were having, we were the only train out there at the time and really unexpected and I’m glad we could be there when we were,” Luster said.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol said she started with a man at the lake but he was able to get to shore and get to a house to stay warm.

If it sounds like there is more to this story, OHP said there probably is. They’re still working to get answers.

It is not known if they have reunited at this time.

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