photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Emergency crews gather for a water rescue Thursday, July 21, 2022, near downtown Lawrence.

Updated at 5:02 p.m. Thursday

A Lawrence man rescued a woman Thursday morning after she drove her car into the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence.

The man, Zach Beebe, 30, told the Journal-World he was on the south bank of the river near Powerhouse Road, cleaning out a friend’s truck, when a young woman drove an SUV rapidly into the river.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Zach Beebe, of Lawrence, said he rescued a woman from the Kansas River after her SUV went into the water Thursday, July 21, 2022.

Beebe said he yelled at the woman to stop, but she kept on going and even appeared to accelerate as she neared the water. He said she had a distressed look on her face. That’s when he threw his keys and sunglasses aside and ran toward the river. He said he waded through the mud near the shore and swam about 15 feet to reach the car. By that time, he said, the woman was out of the car, but she yelled out that she could not swim.

“I had a lot of water and mud weight on my feet when I got to her so it was like, ‘You have to work with me for us both,'” Beebe said. “She almost pulled me under.”

“I grabbed hold of her and told her to move her feet and stay calm. I’m just happy this river isn’t flowing like he usually does with the under tide. … I’m just happy that I was able to get her to shore,” he said.

Another man was nearby, and Beebe said he yelled to him to call an ambulance.

The woman was taken to the hospital with what were believed to be nonlife-threatening injuries, according to Lt. David Ernst with the Lawrence Police Department. A man who identified himself as a relative of the woman told the Journal-World that she is 19.

“The woman is getting the help and care she needs,” said Laura McCabe, a spokeswoman with LPD. She added that LPD “and especially members of the Douglas County Underwater Search and Recovery Team, are very thankful to the man who helped the woman out of the water the moment it happened. In cases like this, seconds matter. He deserves to be commended for his quick actions.”

After emergency crews arrived, they launched a water rescue, and a dive team was requested to assist around 9:30 a.m.

The car was pulled from the river around 1 p.m. No one was inside the vehicle.

The site, just west of the dam and the southbound Kansas River bridge, is approximately the same location where a woman drove her car into the river in August 2018. In that case, two children were in the car, and one of them — a 5-year-old girl — died.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Emergency crews work the scene of a water rescue from the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Emergency crews work the scene of a water rescue on the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence Thursday, July 21, 2022.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Emergency crews work the scene of a water rescue on the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Emergency crews work the scene of a water rescue on the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence Thursday, July 21, 2022.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Tow truck drivers survey the scene Thursday, July 21, 2022, where a car was driven into the Kansas River.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

A staked area shows where the vehicle entered the Kansas River just west of the southbound Kansas River bridge on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

A dive team prepares its gear at the Kansas River just west of the southbound Kansas River bridge on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Divers enter the Kansas River Thursday, July 21, 2022, near downtown Lawrence as part of the effort to retrieve a car that was driven into the river earlier in the day.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Divers are seen in the Kansas River Thursday, July 21, 2022, near downtown Lawrence as part of the effort to retrieve a car that was driven into the river earlier in the day.

photo by: Chris COnde/Journal-World

An SUV is pulled from the Kansas River around 1 p.m. Thursday, July 21, 2022, after a woman drove it into the water earlier in the day near the downtown bridge.

photo by: Chris Conde

An SUV sits near the bank of the Kansas River after being pulled out of the water on Thursday, July 21, 2022.