WARREN, Ohio - The rushing waters of the Mahoning River near downtown Warren can be a peaceful escape. But on Monday, those waters nearly carried an Austintown woman to her death.
 
"She was in a kayak, she didn't realize there was a waterfall," a caller told 911 dispatchers.
 
Her misadventure could have ended in tragedy if Jacob Fowler hadn't gotten to the dam when he did.
 
"Me and my brother just happened to be there to go fishing," said Fowler. "I grabbed my waders and put my waders on to see if I could go down to help her."
 
As the woman kept battling to survive and Fowler's brother ran to grab a rope, he knew he only had seconds to act.
 
"I could see her arms under the falls...I swam out and grabbed her and flipped her over, held her head above the water...I ended up having to just swim toward the other bank so the current would pull us downstream to where some of the first responders were waiting for us."
 
It was there that two Warren Police officers were waiting to pull them out and begin CPR on the woman.
 
A chance for Fowler to catch his breath and realize the enormity of what had happened.
 
"Life's precious," said Fowler. "Just going to remind me to be thankful for all the small things...if it was me I'd hope somebody would help me."
 
Police say the woman is on a ventilator at Trumbull Memorial Hospital but is expected to survive.