In this town, any heroic act around Christmastime is likely to be labeled a miracle. Sometimes it is.
An off-duty police officer jumped into an icy brook Thursday and pulled Barbara Poginy from her sinking, overturned car."It's a miracle she's alive," said Robert Magoon, a police officer in nearby Franconia.
"To be able to do something like this two days before Christmas, it's a good feeling."
Magoon was driving home from work when he saw two trucks pulled off the side of the road.
He stopped and saw the front end of Poginy's car submerged in about 4 feet of water.
"I could hear her screaming inside, but everything was caved in and the doors were all jammed," Magoon said.
Magoon jumped into the brook, smashed the back windshield with a heavy flashlight and pulled Poginy from the sinking car.
Poginy was treated and released from Littleton Regional Hospital.
Magoon said Poginy, who had lost control of her car, started crying over her wrecked vehicle after she was rescued.
"I told her, `It's two days before Christmas and you're lucky to be alive. That's all that counts.' "