She was trapped for 9 hours in her partially submerged car before help arrived, cops say
After an 81-year-old driver’s car went into the water at a Venice, Florida, marine park, she sat inside for 10 hours before two men came to her rescue.
Early morning Thursday, Venice police got a call from a kayaker that there was a car partially submerged in the water and he saved the driver, police said.
While on a morning paddle at Higel Marine Park, he saw the car in the water near a boat ramp.
Kayaker, Rob Goodman, told ABC Tampa News that he was loading his kayak into the water around 7 a.m. when he noticed a few inches of the roof of the car in the water. He flagged down a paddleboarder and went into action.
“As we approached the car her hand came out of the window and at that point we had to change the rules a little bit and the next thought was get her out. We got her out probably about a couple of minutes before rescue got here. And she was cold so I just held onto her until she was able to be taken over by rescue crews,” Goodman said.
The woman told police she had been trapped inside the car since 10 p.m. Wednesday, meaning nine hours had passed before Goodman saw the car.
Video from the scene released by police showed the car drive slowly into the water from the boat ramp.
The driver and citizen heroes were in stable condition, police said.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 6:15 PM.
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