A Florida Navy Reserve officer rescued a woman who was trapped in a sinking car, according to a report by CBS 47.
According to the report, Ryan Sidlovsky was driving with his wife, Francee, when they saw a car speed out of a gas station parking lot in St. Augustine and cut across ongoing traffic, barely missing two other vehicles as it passed.
“I saw the car go very quickly, much too fast,” Francee told CBS 47. “It was amazing that she even made it across the traffic.”
The car then dodged two trees and crashed into a retention pond at a nearby complex, the report states. That’s when Francee called 911 while Ryan sprang into action.
“Initially I would say it was about waist deep to where I was,” Ryan said. “Then I remembered I had a window breaker tool in my car. I ran to get that and ran back out. By that time, the car was getting deeper. So I was kind of treading water and smashed the window in with the window breaker.”
According to CBS 47, the water rushed in quickly, submerging the vehicle as the woman struggled to escape.
“We went down and down and I was trying to get her out of the car but couldn’t,” Ryan told CBS 47. “I think she was having a hard time swimming against the current of the water rushing into the car.”
According to the report, Ryan took a second breath of air and was able to get the woman to safety. The woman did not suffer from any major injuries.
The Sidlovskys said the woman, Nina King, is always welcome in their home.
“If she’ll have us, we’ll take her as part of our family now because she was meant to be here and we were meant to be here,” Francee said.
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