UPDATE: Woman Rescued From Schuylkill on Friday Facing Charges

According to The Times Herald, the still unidentified 40-year-old Norristown woman who was rescued from the Schuylkill River yesterday will be facing felony charges resulting from the incident.

"She admitted to being high on crack," Norristown Police Chief Russell Bono told the Herald. "It was also in the reports that she had done this sort of thing before. She told us she thought someone was chasing her.”

The woman was rescued by a passerby, identified by the Herald as Bob Chagares, who heard her screams and dove into the river to pull her out.

"Obvioulsy, it goes without saying that he acted heroically," Chief Bono told the Herald. "The man jumped into the Schuylkill River. He risked his own life to save her."

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Original Story

Emergency responders including Norristown Police, Norristown Fire Department and Plymouth Ambulance responded to a call for a water rescue at the Schuylkill River Trail off near Riverfront Park just after 4 p.m. today.

According to Norristown Fire Chief Thomas O'Donnell, initial reports identified the victim as a child, but once on the scene, responders identified the victim as an adult woman. The unidentified woman reportedly jumped into the water from the banks near Riverfront Park.

NFD put boats in the water a short way up river to retrieve her, but she was eventually pulled to shore and attended to by emergency medical services. The fire department boats transported the victim and paramedics back to the boat dock for removal.

The woman is being transported by medevac to a Philadelphia-area trauma center. Chief O'Donnell reports no emergency responders were injured in the incident. 

Norristown Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.