There were no parking spaces left in front of the Mounds Senior Citizen Center on Tuesday evening. In fact, there weren’t many spaces left on either side of the entire street.
Inside the Senior Center was a crowd numbering close to 100, there to honor the life of a Sand Springs woman who heroically died saving another man who fell into Lake Sahoma on Friday afternoon.
Dana Cothran, 55, tragically passed away after jumping into Lake Sahoma in order to save another, unidentified man, according to family and friends who spoke with Sapulpa Times.
“He just tripped and fell in, and she hollered for us, and then jumped in after him,” said Jay Williamson, who spent a lot of time out at Sahoma Lake with Dana, fishing the waters of the popular Sapulpa lakes. Williamson said he and a friend went out there to help the two of them get out of the water, and initially, it looked as though all was well.
“She was talking and saying that she’d gotten her phone wet,” said Jay’s wife, Heather Waters. “And then she went limp.”
An ambulance was called, and though they were able to resuscitate her, she had to be placed on life support at the hospital, and never regained consciousness. She passed away on Sunday. The family believes that the frigid temperature of Sahoma Lake might’ve sent her into cardiac arrest. The man that Cothran had saved was able to walk away without medical treatment, suffering only a cut on his finger or hand, according to witnesses.
By Tuesday evening, the Mounds Senior Citizens Center was fast filling with people coming to pay their respects. Among the hugs and greetings were a lot of smiles and laughter. “It’s just what I wanted,” said Russell Cothran, Dana’s husband of 32 years. “We’ll get the chance to say goodbye. But I wanted to get everyone together, to laugh and tell some stories,” he said.
By all accounts, Dana Cothran was a woman who loved animals, loved fishing, and most of all loved people.
“She never met a stranger,” Heather Waters said. “If she didn’t know you, she’d say you were just a friend she hadn’t met, yet.”
Russell Cothran agreed with the sentiment. “Those were ‘her boys,’” he said, referring to Jay Williamson and his friend Chris, who was also present. “I was sure glad they were there when she needed them.”
Though her husband had spent plenty of time with Russell and Dana out on the docks of Sahoma Lake, she confessed that she didn’t know her last name. “We just called her Mama Dana,” she said.
The tragedy of the last weekend is only the latest to befall the Cothran family. Six weeks ago, their house caught fire, forcing the couple to move into a hotel while repairs were made. Williamson said the Cothrans were about two weeks away from moving back in when Dana passed away. “We were planning a welcome home party and everything,” he said.
Even while they were displaced, the Cothrans were a light to the people they met. Dixie Whitehouse stayed in the room across the hall in the hotel and would frequently see them for breakfast. “They were really friendly people and loved to talk about Jesus,” she said.
As Russell Cothran looked around at the room that was now standing room only, he said he wasn’t surprised at all at the crowd that had turned out in such short notice. “She was just that kind of woman.”
No services for Dana Cothran have been planned at this time.
