ATHENS, Ga — A University of Georgia senior is awake and talking after surviving a fall from the eighth floor of an Athens apartment building, according to her father.
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Richard Sargent told Channel 2 Action News his daughter, 21-year-old Kristin Sargent, is recovering in the intensive care unit and is doing better than many expected after the fall.
“We got a phone call from somebody that just said, ‘Oh my God, Kristin’s had a tough fall,’” Richard Sargent recalled.
That call sent the family rushing from Virginia to Athens, where Kristin, a senior studying finance and marketing at UGA, was being treated for multiple injuries.
Police say Kristin fell from an eighth-floor apartment at The Rambler on West Broad Street.
Investigators say she was dancing on a couch when she fell out the window.
Her father wouldn’t speak about what happened but said it happened after the Georgia Bulldogs’ victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.
“University of Georgia just won a football game. I bet there were a lot of kids here who were 21 years old who were super happy,” Sargent said.
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News Drone 2 captured the distance of the fall from the eighth floor to the pool deck below. Investigators say Kristin landed on the pool deck, and witnesses told Channel 2 Action News a lounge chair may have broken her fall before she hit the ground.
Despite suffering several broken bones, her father said Kristin understands just how fortunate she is.
“She was talking to one of her friends and saying, ‘Hey, I’m alive. I can’t believe it,’” Sargent said.
As Kristin continues her recovery, questions remain about how the fall happened.
In a message sent to residents, management at The Rambler said it is cooperating with investigators and reminded residents that windows throughout the complex are equipped with safety limiters.
The message warned residents not to “tamper with, remove or disengage” those devices. Authorities have not said whether the window involved in Kristin’s fall had a safety limiter engaged or whether it played any role in the incident.
For now, Kristin’s family is focused on her recovery.
“She’s a good fighter, and so she’s going to be OK,” her father said.
Her father says the UGA community and Piedmont Healthcare have provided an outpouring of support as Kristin continues recovering in the ICU.
Inside the apartment complex, you can find a large poster with dozens of notes of well wishes and encouragement from students and Kristin’s friends.
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