Firefighter Honored for Rescuing Girl From Car Submerged in Aqueduct
A county firefighter who saved a girl trapped in a submerged car at the bottom of the California Aqueduct received his department’s Medal of Valor in a ceremony Thursday.
Ron McFadden was part of a crew that rescued Shanika Lister, now 11, of Rialto after her mother’s car swerved off Route 138 and plunged into about 17 feet of water in a July 4, 1998, accident, said Capt. Brian Jordan of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The girl’s mother, Vicki Lister, and another relative managed to swim to the surface.
Using breathing apparatus that was not designed for underwater use, McFadden swam through murky water to the overturned car and found Shanika in the back seat, still strapped in. He pulled the near-lifeless girl to the surface, where paramedics were able to revive her, Fire Inspector Roland Sprewell said. The girl suffered slight brain damage in the accident.
McFadden was awarded the Medal of Valor at a luncheon attended by Shanika and her mother at the Essex House in Lancaster.
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