MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Rescue crews took a woman to the hospital after, officials said, her SUV plunged into a canal in Miami Gardens.
Miami Gardens Police, Florida Highway Patrol and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the crash near Northwest 203rd Street and 27th Avenue, just after 4:20 p.m., Sunday.
“I heard the noise. I knew it was an impact, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from,” said Florida Highway Patrol Cpl. Rudy Regis.
“I parked immediately, just right on the grass where the canal started,” said Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Luis Darcia. “I took off my gun belt, and I entered the water.”
Regis and Darcia were working at the nearby Miami Dolphins game at Hard Rock Stadium and quickly responded to the scene.
“I went under water maybe 20, 30 times. It felt like I was under water for an hour, and I know it was realistically five to 10 minutes,” said Darcia.
“The vehicle at the moment was beginning to go in a forward motion, so the vehicle was facing up. You can actually see the tag,” said Regis. “At this point, you know, in the vehicle the person is probably going to be upside down or anywhere in the vehicle.”
Rescue crews pulled the victim from the water and administered CPR.
“I couldn’t see anything. The water, it’s a dark canal water, so I’m looking inside the vehicle basically with my eyes closed,” said Darcia.
The woman hit another vehicle, a fence, slammed into a sedan and drove into the canal.
“Well, at this point, when you have someone in the water inside the vehicle, the most important thing is to get the person out,” said Regis.
“The best thing that worked for us was the timing,” said Darcia. “I’ve responded to several crashes where the vehicle was under water, and we’re there 20, 15 minutes after it happened. We were able to respond in less than a minute, so we knew that time was working against us. We had to get it done immediately.”
The victim was taken to Aventura Hospital in critical condition.
“The adrenaline was going, and at times, you don’t even know…” said Regis.
“It definitely helps,” said Darcia.
Crews were later able to pull the woman’s silver SUV from the canal.
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