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According to news accounts and a GoFundMe campaign started on her behalf by a Clifton man, Kathy Paredes, 35, was headed to a lake Saturday near her home in Jacksonville, Fla. Her five-year-old daughter Amber was with her.
According to police, Paredes' Jeep flipped into the water as she was attempting a turn. As the vehicle was submerged, Paredes managed to call her husband on her cell phone before she lost consciousness. He then called the police.
When police arrived, they were able to pull Amber alive from the vehicle. The little girl had apparently been trapped in an air bubble, allowing her to make it through the ordeal, officials said. Paredes was already dead when police arrived following a search for her vehicle, according to The Florida Times-Union.
“Kathy was able to call her husband, Adam and explained she had submerged under water and was dying. Adam was able to contact the police and on arrival they found Kathy had drowned but miraculously, Amber had survived in a small pocket of air.... Kathy Paredes — you were a great woman, mother, daughter and partner! You will be missed by all. RIP!”, organizers wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“If I could just talk to her, I would say Kathy I love you so much,” her husband said in remarks reported by the Times-Union.
In addition to her daughter and husband, Paredes is survived by a son, Adam Jr., 2.
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