DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - A lab employee was one of many heroes after a woman drove her vehicle into a retention pond in Davie. After rescue crews arrived, all that was left to do was search for any more possible victims in the submerged car, but thankfully, there were none.
Davie Fire Rescue responded to the incident at New Town Commerce Center, located near Southwest 47th Avenue, where they found one person outside of the submerged vehicle, Tuesday.
Fire rescue divers searched the retention pond for another person, but once rescuers found out there was no one stuck inside, they ceased their mission.
Several emergency trucks remained on the scene after the rescue mission as they awaited a tow truck to remove the car, indicated by an orange marker that floated in the retention pond.
Before the rescue team arrived, Carlos Lozada said he called for help once after he saw the car go into the water.
“My supervisor was parking and he listened to a person screaming and runs inside and goes, ‘Guys guys! Who can swim!’ Then one of my partners, he jumped in the water. I think he had special training and he jumped in, grabbed the lady and took her out [of the pond],” he said.
Out came Stephen Welch, a 68-year-old lab employee at Health Genesis who also happened to have a WSA, the highest marine-level swim training, and 17 years of competitive swimming.
“Shoes came off, shirt came off, and I went in,” he said.
He swam straight to the middle of the lake to a woman bobbing her head above water, struggling to stay afloat. Another man on the other side of the lake also jumped in.
“He came in from the far side and I came in from this side and we kind of met,” recalled Welch. “I got there a few seconds before him and I just started pushing her. I pushed her toward the far embankment and he was behind her trying to pull her over there.”
Then several employees from nearby businesses worked to get a rope to those in the lake.
“They finally got close enough that he could grab it and once he grabbed it he hung it around her and everyone pulled her in,” said Welch.
The woman was taken by ambulance for treatment and everyone made it out of the water OK thanks to all of the strangers who worked together to do some good.
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