A 19-year-old Alameda woman died Wednesday after her car hydroplaned off a Mendocino County highway and into a fast-moving creek, where her best friend clung to a tree for 12 hours of a winter storm before swimming to shore for help at daybreak. Survivor Natalie M. Griffin was in shock Friday as she recovered from the accident that killed her fellow Castro Valley High School class of 2015 graduate, Jenna M. Santos, said her cousin, Monica Keyser.

“It’s hard to rejoice in Natalie being alive when everyone is grieving the loss of Jenna,” Keyser said. “The story is surreal, I can’t imagine anyone else being as strong as her through the night. It’s definitely heroic. I’m so thankful she’s alive. She was so brave.”