A motivated police officer, with the help of his sharp-eyed 6-year-old daughter, rescued an elderly driver who crashed into an irrigation ditch on Monday, California authorities said.
Syle Johnson and his wife, Ashley Martin, were visiting their Live Oak home when their young daughter, Kaylee, was playing in the front yard when they saw a car roll over. According to the California Highway Patrol.
The driver, Robbie Carpenter, 75, landed upside down with his head submerged in about two feet of water during a recent rainstorm.
After Kayley alerted her parents, they sprung into action.
Authorities said Johnson, 28, jumped into the canal and unlocked the front door, but Carpenter was submerged and unresponsive.
An unknown passerby stopped, cut the woman's seatbelt and helped pull her out of the car.
“We were there at exactly the right time, and 10 more seconds could have killed her,” said Martin, who called 911 in the emergency. According to KCRA.
Carpenter was taken to a local hospital with only minor injuries.
“If not for the heroic actions of Syle, Ashley, and their daughter, things could have turned out very differently,” CHP said. “We applaud this family for their life-saving actions!”
According to law enforcement, this is the second time in recent months that a Marysville family has helped a wrong-way driver crash victim on Oct. 13.
The family received congressional recognition this week from U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa's office.
The California Highway Patrol said Johnson has his sights set on working in law enforcement.
“We were going to make a recruitment pitch to Mr. Syle, but he said he was already in the CHP hiring process.” The ministry wrote on Facebook:.
