Thanks to several good Samaritans and the fast response of two Melbourne Police Department officers, a woman is alive and stable after her car went off the road and into a river, leaving her submerged and unconscious.
Calls came in around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning about a car near Eau Gallie Causeway in Melbourne, Florida, that had flipped into the Indian River.
According to NBC News, one good Samaritan was able to point Officer Peter Dolci III in the right direction when he arrived on the scene, and he approached the vehicle to find another good Samaritan already there, doing his best to keep the unresponsive driver’s head above water.
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“Dolci ran over, and observed a 2013 Hyundai on its side submerged in the water, with the driver’s side of the vehicle being completely submerged,” the police department’s news release read.
The man beside the vehicle was clearly concerned for the female driver, doing his best to assist her and urgently asking Dolci to break the glass so they could move her.
“Can you get this glass bro?” the man asked. “I don’t care if it cuts me, she is going to die, break the glass, man, break the glass, she’s gonna die!”
In a video that has been released of the incident, Dolci can be heard reassuring the man as he dons gloves and peels the glass back.
“You good? You good?” Dolci said to him. “You can drag her out … keep her head above.”
“She needs CPR immediately,” the good Samaritan responded.
Officer Luke Drummer then arrived and assisted Dolci in carrying the woman out of the water — but she was still not responding.
“Dolci was able to extract the driver and with the assistance of Officer Luke Dummer, they were able to carry the driver up the embankment putting them on a level solid surface,” the news release continued. “The driver had no pulse, and was not breathing.”
The officers started CPR until other first responders arrived and took over for them. The woman did respond to the lifesaving measures and started choking up water.
“They said she had strong vitals and everything like that, so hopefully she pulls through,” Officer Dolci later told WOFL-TV.
The unnamed good Samaritan is also being recognized for his part in the rescue.
“He did a great job,” Dolci said of the earnest man. “He kept his cool.”
According to the Melbourne Police Department, the woman survived and was in stable condition, breathing on her own, by the next morning. Authorities are still looking into the cause of the accident.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
