As Shari Bean watched the Swift River carry her daughter away, she thought she had lost her little girl forever. But the bravery of a stranger from Ohio ensured the story would have a happy ending.

On Monday, Shari and Greg Bean took their daughter, Hanna Salem, 12, and her best friend, Hannah Bunnell, 13, all of Milford, on a day trip along the Kancamagus Highway.

In Albany, they stopped at a popular swimming hole above the lower falls of the Swift River. A warning from a ranger convinced the family to stay out of the water and sit on rocks to watch the river rush by.

Shari Bean was about four feet from her daughter when Hanna slipped into the river and immediately was swept into the current.

“One second she was there next to me and the next she was gone,” Shari said.

Though the river isn't deep in that area — three or four feet at most, according to Fish and Game Conservation Officer Alexander Lopashanski — the current is exceptionally strong. “All I kept saying was 'Please God,' the whole entire time,” said Hanna. “And I could hear my mom screaming, 'Get her, Greg!'”

After being swept along for nearly 150 feet, Hanna was able to grab onto a rock just a few feet before the river began its crashing descent over the sharp, rocky 15-foot waterfall.

“She was just three or four feet away from going over,” said Shari.

James Barnhouse of Northeast Dover, Ohio, was exploring the rocks along the river. He made his way to Hanna and reached for her.

“I yelled for Hanna to grab his hand,” said Shari, “and she yelled, 'But he's a stranger, mom!'”

Shari convinced her daughter to take Barnhouse's hand. He helped her make it to the opposite shore, a process that took the better part of an hour as they crawled over the rocks against the current.

Meanwhile, Shari said she had no cell phone signal. To get help, she jumped into the family's Jeep and drove to the Jigger Johnson Campground just down the street. The woman at the campground had a CB radio, and within 15 minutes, help was on site.

Barnhouse and Hanna, with the help of Lopashanski and Conway fire personnel, made their way on foot about a mile downriver to the rescuer's truck and were able to cross back over the river.

Shari said James Barnhouse is her hero.

“I'm a lucky parent that she's sitting right here now,” she said of her daughter.

Though they hadn't planned for an overnight adventure, the family stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Monday night, where they were treated with incredible kindness, Greg Bean said.

“The first thing Hanna asked when we got there was if they had a pool,” he said.

But she didn't do any swimming, and the family was grateful to be back home in Milford Tuesday.

Hanna said she is happy a stranger was willing to risk his life to save hers.

“She also wants Garrett, one of the rescue guys, to know that she and Hannah think he's a 10,” Greg Bean joked.

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Nancy Bean Foster may be reached at nfoster@newstote.com.