Girl in Fernan accident improves

River Deshazer, the 1-year-old Coeur d'Alene girl injured on Aug. 28 when the vehicle she was in slid into Fernan Lake, has improved and is in satisfactory condition at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane today.

She was originally in a coma and in critical condition.

Evan Deshazer, 5, died.

According to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, mother Sarah Deshazer, 25, was turning in the middle of the two-lane Fernan Lake Road about three-eighths of a mile east of Lakeshore Drive when one wheel went off the roadway causing the Dodge Durango to slide down the embankment.

At some point before the Dodge Durango sank, Deshazer and her husband, Michael Deshazer, 28, got out of the vehicle, but could not reach their children before the vehicle was submerged in about 12 feet of murky water.

The children were in the water about 15 minutes, according to the sheriff's office.