University of Georgia student dancing on couch near window falls 8 stories and survives

The Rambler Athens apartment complex.Google MapsShareAdd NBC News to GoogleSept. 29, 2026, 10:31 AM EDT / Updated Sept. 29, 2026, 2:26 PM EDTBy David K. LiA University of Georgia student survived a plunge from her eighth-floor apartment, authorities said Monday, after she had been “dancing on a couch near a window” and fell out.

The student fell from the Rambler Athens Apartments at 558 W. Broad St. in Athens about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, according to police records.

The “student was dancing on a couch near a window that was open” and “fell from the 8th floor window and landed on the pool deck below,” the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a statement.

Remarkably, Kristen Elizabeth Sargent, 21, of Virginia, appeared to have survived the harrowing plunge.

“At this time, she is conscious and alert but seriously injured,” police said.

A cushioned metal bench might have broken the 5-foot-7, 115-pound woman’s fall.

“I arrived and spoke with bystanders who advised that the female victim had been dancing on a couch or air mattress which was near an open window and had apparently fallen through the screen and onto the ground below,” Police Sgt. Erik Ellison wrote in a report.

A representative for the university could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rambler Athens is a student housing community that sells itself as an upscale building that includes a “state-of-the-art” gym, a “resort-style pool,” a coffee bar and pet care services.

ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleDavid K. LiSenior Breaking News Reporter