New bodycam video shows moments after college student’s 8-story fall from apartment window

ATHENS, Ga. (ANF/Gray News) - Newly released video offers a closer look at the chaotic aftermath and miraculous survival of a Georgia college student who fell eight stories from her apartment window.

Kristin Sargent, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Georgia, was dancing on furniture Sept. 26 when she lost her balance and fell from her eighth-floor apartment window. The fall was about 65 to 70 feet, according to newly obtained video and 911 audio.

“My friend just fell out of the window on the eighth floor,” a caller told a 911 dispatcher immediately following the incident. “We were dancing, and she just fell out the window.”

The fall happened during Georgia-Oklahoma weekend, when several friends were staying at Sargent’s five-person apartment at the Rambler Athens building, an off-campus complex.

Apartment security camera video captured Sargent falling, with the window screen following her. The 21-year-old survived the fall but suffered a number of injuries.

“We were dancing, and we were singing ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus,” said a roommate in body camera footage released by Athens-Clarke County Police. “We had our glass up, but the screen was down. She was dancing and fell backward.”

First responders arrived on the scene to find Sargent conscious and able to speak, despite the height of the fall. A police officer said she had an open femur fracture and blood coming from a wound in her chest.

“I thought I was coming down here to see her dead. Have you seen anything like this before? I think it was a miracle the fact that she wasn’t dead,” said one of Sargent’s friends in the bodycam footage.

Police noted that patio furniture located near the apartment complex’s swimming pool likely broke Sargent’s fall and saved her life. Investigators documented blood and a broken armrest on the cushioned metal bench.

“We all were like, ‘If anyone was going to come back from this, it’s Kristin,’” a roommate said in the bodycam footage.

Another of Sargent’s roommates told police that the 21-year-old had been at a bar during the Georgia-Oklahoma game. A hospital administrator later described her as “drunk.” A police officer said her condition might have contributed to her body not bracing as she fell.

Sargent faces an extended recovery, but family and friends say her survival is nothing short of remarkable.