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An elderly woman was rescued alive last Thursday after her vehicle fell into a canal in Pompano Beach, Florida, in a race against time that lasted only seconds before the car became fully submerged.
According to the report from Local 10, the incident occurred around 10:30 in the morning at block 2600 of Southwest Palm Aire Drive, near a shopping plaza in the Palm Aire area.
The apparent cause was that the driver accidentally stepped on the accelerator, causing the car to break through a fence and plunge into the canal.
The rescue was carried out by two agents from the Broward County Sheriff's Department and Captain Kevin Costa from Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, who was off duty at the time.
Costa, a firefighter with 14 years of experience in Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, heard the emergency call over the radio and acted immediately.
"I heard the call, turned on the lights of my private vehicle, and followed them to the scene," explained the captain.
Upon arrival, time was of the essence. "It was just a matter of seconds before the vehicle would be underwater," Costa said.
The elderly woman remained buckled in with her seatbelt as the car sank, which further complicated the operation.
The rescuers decided to break the window instead of opening the door to prevent the water from flooding the cabin more quickly.
"We didn't want to risk opening the door and not having her able to get out in time. The best option was to break the window, help her unbuckle her seatbelt, and assist her through that open window," Costa explained.
Once out of the vehicle, the rescuers swam with her to the shore.
The woman was the sole occupant of the car and is in stable condition, with a prognosis for full recovery.
One of the sheriff's deputies sustained minor injuries during the operation.
The dive team from the Sheriff’s Department later recovered the vehicle from the bottom of the canal.
Such incidents are not uncommon in South Florida, a region known for its extensive network of artificial canals that run through urban and suburban areas of the Broward County, where over 41,000 vehicle accidents occur each year.
The proximity of the roads to bodies of water poses a latent risk, especially for elderly drivers, as evidenced in this case.
Other recent water rescues in the area include the rescue of three fishermen after capsizing near a national park, as well as the case of a woman bitten by a barracuda on a beach in southern Florida, incidents that highlight the dangers faced by residents in this region.
Captain Costa captured in a single phrase the spirit that guided his actions that day: "As firefighters, whether we're on duty or not, we take action. We all carry a sense of pride. We want to do what's right."
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