The terrifying moment in which an unconscious woman nearly plunged in her car to the bottom of a Florida canal only to be pulled to safety by a local man was captured in a video taken by the man’s teenage son.
Molly Pedrone suffered a seizure on Sunday on her way home from work and was knocked unconscious as her white SUV drove into a canal in Boca Raton.
Luckily for her, Shawn Turner, 33, was also driving by and bravely jumped straight into the water to rescue Pedrone before her car fully submerged into the 10-ft canal.
Shawn Turner, 33, dived in to rescue Molly Pedrone after she suffered a seizure and her white SUV plunged into a Florida canal in a race against the clock before it sank below the water
Molly Pedrone suffered two black eyes and bit her tongue after she suffered a seizure while driving home on Sunday and plunged into a canal where she was rescued by passersby
Shawn Turner is being applauded as a hero for saving Molly Pedrone
Not long after 11am on Sunday, Turner was driving near Military Trail and Camino Real when his 14-year-old son pointed and shouted ‘Dad, there is a car floating out there’.
Turner spotted Pedrone’s SUV floating in the water as onlookers took photos and videos.
He quickly pulled up and jumped into the water to pull her out as the car began to rapidly sink.
‘Somebody had to act because cars don’t float long,’ he told the Sun Sentinel.
Turner’s son also began to capture video as his dad swung into action. He can be seen pulling himself up to the open window to try and speak to the woman trapped inside.
‘She’s out cold,’ he yelled as other onlookers rushed to help and there are calls to get a hammer from Turner’s truck.
Turner can be seen in the dramatic video jumping through the car’s window alongside another man to unbuckle Molly Pedrone’s seat belt and pull her from the rapidly sinking car
Onlookers panicked as the car began to sink at a faster pace but Turner and the other Good Samaritans emerged on the far side holding Pedrone and pulling her to the bank to safety
The SUV submerged completely moments after Turner managed to pull Pedrone free
Turner manages to pull himself into the SUV through the window alongside another man but the car begins to sink even faster with the extra weight. Panic can be heard from the banks and people scream for them to ‘get out’.
As the car submerged further, the two men appear on the far side of the car with Pedrone in their arms and successfully pull her to the side of the canal.
‘It was intense,’ Turner said of the panicked moments as they struggled to unbuckle Pedrone’s belt.
Pedrone’s eyes had rolled back in her head during the seizure in the car and she remained disoriented when Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived.
She was taken to Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where she is said to be in stable condition but suffered bruising from when her car hit the water. She has two black eyes and bit her tongue during the seizure so can’t speak well.
‘I’m so thankful for Shawn’s help and the help lot the other bystanders,’ she told WPTV-Ch.5.
‘I can’t fathom what it would’ve been like without them.’
Molly Pedrone has suffered from seizures for 13 years and said that Sunday’s seizure came on very quickly – she suffered two black eyes and bit her tongue in the accident
‘I can’t fathom what it would’ve been like without them’, Molly Pedrone said of her rescue
Pedrone has suffered from seizures for 13 years and says that Sunday’s seizure came on very quickly.
‘I just want to say how thankful I and my family are for you and the other bystanders saving my daughter,’ Pedrone’s mother Cindy Luedeman wrote under Turner’s video on Facebook.
‘You are a true hero and we owe you so much’.
Pedrone’s father-in-law Dino Pedrone also shared his thanks on Facebook in which he said ‘Shawn and others who were there are true heros’.
‘As a family we can not begin to thank God for these earthy angels and we still have our Molly. Pray with us for her full recovery,’ he added.
Shawn Turner rushed to Pedrone’s aid after his 14-year-old son spotted the car in the water
Pedrone’s father-in-law Dino Pedrone thanked Turner for his quick thinking in the rescue
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived to the scene to find Molly Pedrone recovering on the banks and the SUV submerged, which they later pulled out from the water
Turner’s sons, who took the video and witnessed the rescue, commented as well saying ‘you are a hero to me and my brother’.
‘Great job dad We are happy that the lady was safe and sound, From the boy’s,’ they added.
Turner, however, has been modest about the rescue saying, ‘I managed to help out one lady. There are people who do this every day for a living’.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue later pulled Pedrone’s SUV from the canal.