Kristin Sargent’s father says the 21-year-old University of Georgia senior is awake and talking after surviving an eight-story plunge from an apartment window.
Richard Sargent told Channel 2 Action News that his daughter, a finance and marketing student from Virginia, is recovering in intensive care following the Saturday evening fall in downtown Athens, Georgia. “She was talking to one of her friends and saying, ‘Hey, I’m alive. I can’t believe it’,” he recounted, describing how stunned his daughter remains by her own survival.
The incident occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m. At The Rambler building on West Broad Street, according to a police report obtained by The Post. Responding officer Erik Ellison wrote that he arrived at approximately 7:37 p.m. To find bystanders gathered near the building’s courtyard pool deck.
“I arrived and spoke with bystanders who advised that the female victim had been dancing on a couch or air mattress which was near an open window and had apparently fallen through the screen and onto the ground below,” Ellison wrote in his report. “When I arrived, the victim was on the ground near the pool, which at this complex is in a courtyard on the second floor of the building.”
Ellison noted that the scene suggested Sargent had struck a metal bench during her fall. “It appeared from the scene that the victim had struck a metal bench as she fell, as the cushion on the bench had some blood on it, and the armrest of the bench had broken off,” he wrote. Witnesses reportedly told authorities that a lounge chair may have broken her fall before she reached the ground.
The 5’7″, 115-pound blonde suffered several broken bones in the accident, her father indicated. “She’s pretty badly beaten up,” Richard Sargent acknowledged, while emphasizing gratitude over grief. “We’re lucky that she’s alive and we’re blessed.”
The fall came in the aftermath of Georgia’s 41-13 football victory over Oklahoma, a detail her father connected to the celebratory atmosphere among students that evening. “University of Georgia just won a football game,” Richard Sargent said. “I bet there was a lot of kids here who are 21 years old who were super happy.” He did not elaborate on what specifically caused his daughter’s accident.
The family rushed from their Virginia home after receiving a frantic call about the incident. “Oh my God, Kristin’s had a tough fall,” someone told them, Richard Sargent recalled. Despite the severity of her injuries, he expressed confidence in her recovery. “She’s a good fighter, and so she’s going to be OK,” he said.
Ellison wrote that Sargent and other witnesses were interviewed at the hospital, and that all information gathered pointed to an accident. Forensics processed the scene, and the investigation remained ongoing at the time of the report. “At this time it appears that the victim will survive,” he concluded.
Building management sent a message to residents reminding them that windows throughout the complex have safety limiters installed and warning against attempts to “tamper with, remove or disengage” the devices, according to Channel 2. Authorities have not stated whether the window Sargent fell from had its safety limiter engaged or whether that factor played any role in the incident.
Inside The Rambler, a large poster filled with dozens of well wishes from friends and fellow students has been assembled for the injured senior.
A representative for The Rambler told The Post: “Our thoughts are with our resident, and we are wishing for a speedy recovery. We are continuing to gather information and review the circumstances surrounding the incident,” Management added that it is cooperating with investigators.