An elderly Florida woman might want to buy a lottery ticket this weekend. She was rescued after being trapped in her car underwater all night long.
Every Thursday morning, Rob Goodman launches his kayak to go fishing at Higel Marine Park in Venice, Florida. This Thursday was different.
“I was probably about right here when i noticed the car because it was just becoming daylight,” Goodman said.
Goodman says he could only see part of a car’s roof. He flagged down a paddleboarder, and that’s when they realized someone was inside.
The two men just so happened to be a former firefighter and a former reserve deputy. They called for help but their instincts took them into the water to get her out.
“I got underneath her arms and pulled her up and i just set her in my lap and just held onto her,” Goodman said.
Surveillance video shows the 81-year-old’s car going into the water around 9:30 the night before. She had been in the water for nearly 10 hours with only inches of breathing room, and the tide was rising.
“The car was starting to move when our units got there, it was starting to float away,” Chief Shawn Carvey of the Venice Fire Department said.
Fire crews say the two men are heroes.
chief shawn carvey/venice fire department:
“It’s lucky she was found when she was found because otherwise it could’ve been much worse,” Chief Carvey said.
Goodman says he’s thankful the woman will be okay and that he was in the right place at the right time.
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