Panicked 911 calls have revealed the terrifying moments after a University of Georgia senior fell from an eighth-floor apartment window and somehow survived.
Kristin Sargent plunged onto the pool area of the Rambler Athens building in Athens, Georgia, on September 26.
The first emergency calls described a chaotic scene as friends and residents tried to explain what had happened.
Highlights
- Kristin Sargent fell from an eighth-floor apartment window at Rambler Athens while reportedly dancing on a couch.
- Panicked 911 callers described finding Sargent near the pool area after the September 26 fall.
- Sargent survived with multiple injuries, and her father said she was awake and talking in the hospital.
A 911 call captured what happened before a 21-year-old fell from an eighth-floor apartment
One of the most frightening accounts came from a female friend who was with Sargent when she fell.
“We were dancing, and she just fell out of the window,” the friend said, according to the 911 call The New York Post received. “She’s not moving.”
The caller was clearly trying to explain what had happened while also dealing with the shock of seeing her friend lying below. She told the dispatcher that they had been drinking, but quickly clarified that they were not heavily intoxicated.
“It was nothing extreme at all; we were all fully conscious,” she said.
The group had reportedly been celebrating after the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 41-13.
Another resident made a separate 911 call after witnessing the fall from his fifth-floor room.
“I just saw someone fall out of, like, the eighth-floor window and land on the grass by the pool,” he told the dispatcher.
He said the person appeared to be unconscious.
“We heard a noise and looked out and, yeah, it doesn’t look good,” the resident added.
Police were dispatched to the Rambler Athens at about 7:37 p.m. The two emergency calls helped establish what residents had seen in the moments immediately after Sargent’s fall.
When officers arrived, Sargent was found near the pool with evidence of a hard impact
Sargent was on the ground near the pool in the apartment complex’s courtyard.
Officer Erik Ellison later documented what witnesses told him. According to his report, Sargent had been dancing on a couch or air mattress near an open window, as reported by Bored Panda.
She apparently went through the screen and fell to the ground below.
She landed on the building’s second-floor courtyard, rather than directly on the ground.
Ellison also noticed signs that Sargent may have hit a metal bench during the fall.
“It appeared from the scene that the victim had struck a metal bench as she fell,” he wrote.
The officer noted that the bench cushion had blood on it and that part of the armrest had broken off. Those details suggested the bench absorbed at least some of the impact force.
Witnesses also told investigators that a lounge chair may have helped break Sargent’s fall before she reached the ground. However, authorities have not said exactly how much either piece of furniture contributed to her survival.
Sargent was taken to the hospital, where investigators later spoke with her and other witnesses.
The circumstances surrounding the fall naturally raised questions about what had happened inside the apartment
Police did not find evidence at that point suggesting that Sargent had been intentionally pushed or that another person had caused the fall.
Ellison wrote that Sargent and other witnesses were interviewed at the hospital and that the information gathered “suggested it was an accident.” Forensics teams also processed the scene as the investigation continued.
“At this time it appears that the victim will survive,” Ellison wrote.
The police report did not establish that she intentionally climbed or jumped from the window.
The accident happened at the Rambler Athens, a student housing complex at 558 West Broad Street, close to the University of Georgia campus. Other reports identified Sargent as a senior studying finance and marketing at UGA.
While the first 911 caller feared that Sargent was unconscious, her family later received a much more hopeful update
Sargent’s father, Richard Sargent, told Channel 2 Action News that Sargent was awake and talking after the fall. She was being treated in intensive care for multiple injuries, including several broken bones.
Richard said one of the most striking things was hearing his daughter recognize what she had survived.
“She was talking to one of her friends and saying, ‘Hey, I’m alive. I can’t believe it,’” he recalled.
He said she was “pretty badly beaten up,” but the family remained grateful that she was alive.
“She’s a good fighter, and so she’s going to be OK,” he said.
Richard also explained that the family had been living in Virginia and rushed to Georgia after receiving a frightening phone call.
“We got a phone call from somebody that just said, ‘Oh my God, Kristin’s had a tough fall,’” he later recalled.
The family immediately headed to Athens to be with her.
Richard did not publicly explain every detail of what happened inside the apartment before the fall. However, he noted that the incident happened shortly after the Georgia Bulldogs defeated Oklahoma 41-13.
“The University of Georgia just won a football game,” he said. “I bet there were a lot of kids here who are 21 years old who were super happy.”
The incident also brought attention to the safety features installed on the apartment building’s windows
After the fall, Rambler Athens sent a message to residents reminding them that the windows throughout the complex were equipped with safety limiters.
Residents were warned not to “tamper with, remove or disengage” the devices.
However, authorities have not said whether the window involved in Sargent’s fall had a safety limiter engaged. They also have not determined whether the device played any role in the accident.
That question remained unanswered as investigators continued examining the scene.
A Rambler Athens representative said the property was cooperating with the investigation and reviewing what happened.
“Our thoughts are with our resident, and we are wishing for a speedy recovery,” the representative told The Post. “We are continuing to gather information and review the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
For now, Sargent’s family has focused on her recovery rather than the unanswered questions surrounding the window.
Her father said the family feels incredibly fortunate that she survived such a serious fall, while students and friends continued leaving messages of support at the apartment complex.
"God was watching over her," wrote one netizen
