Several Florida first responders are being credited for saving an elderly man, who had a medical emergency, and two dogs from a sinking SUV.
The heroic rescue was caught on camera about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Longwood, a suburb of Orlando, after a man reported a vehicle had left the roadway and drove into a retention pond.
"This is right now number one with a silver bullet for me as far as one of the most amazing things, if not the most amazing thing, I've ever seen in my life," Longwood Mayor Matt Morgan told FOX 35. He was stuck in traffic nearby before he got to witness city and county first responders working together in the extrication.
Police Sergeant Kris Burnham and Officer Bryce Snyder arrived at the scene and immediately entered the water. Snyder reached the driver's side door, where he determined the elderly man driver was conscious but unresponsive, according to a press release.
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Snyder broke out the window using a glass breaking tool. He then used the same tool, equipped with a seatbelt cutter, to cut the seatbelt and remove the driver from the vehicle.
Firefighters Casey Minard, Caroline Gibson and Alex Coleman assisted in getting the elderly driver and two canines to shore. The driver was taken to a hospital where he was treated for his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery.
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"They knew exactly where they were going, what they were doing, how they were going to do it, and it was only a matter of milliseconds in how they reacted in such short order to save a man's life and his two dogs on top of it. I thought that was amazing," Morgan said.
Morgan says he plans to recognize the first responders who saved the man's life at a future city commission meeting.
