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Officer Maclane Doran and the 14-year-old girl both went under at least once as the current took her under a footbridge late Wednesday, April 27, River Edge Police Chief Michael J. Walker said.
"Then the girl began to go limp -- probably the onset of hypothermia," the chief said. "The river temp was about 50 degrees."
Doran brought the girl to the shoreline. Sgt. Marc Abate and Officer Edward Blue helped get her out before she was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, Walker said.
Doran, meanwhile, "ingested some river water and was treated and released," he added.
The girl's guardian angels had gone to the footbridge by the Von Stuben house on a call of a female in distress around 11:15 p.m. They spotted the girl at the edge of the railing on the bridge's northbound side.
Then she suddenly jumped in.
Doran quickly shed his outer vest and gun belt and went in. She was just short of mid-river when he reached her.
"There was a struggle, as often is with drowning victims when they panic," Walker explained.
New Milord and Hackensack police, River Edge firefighters, New Jersey State Park Police and members of the girls' family all responded, he noted.
The chief was both proud of his officers and concerned for the troubled teen. Mostly, he was grateful.
"If not for Officer Doran's quick decision to enter the river, we may have lost her," he said.
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