Via Fox 13:
A Tampa woman found herself trapped inside her submerged car on New Year’s morning, but survived the incident thanks in part to two sheriff’s deputies.
Amanda Antonio was traveling eastbound on foggy Interstate 4 when another driver cut her off as they approached the U.S. Highway 301 exit ramp, troopers said. The 20-year-old lost control of her 2008 Toyota Scion, veered off the highway, and overturned into a deep, water-filled ditch.
Officials with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said she found an air pocket and called 911. Initially, deputies said they couldn’t find her due to thick fog conditions. The first deputy on scene ventured into the ditch, and said the water was up to his chest.
Danny Alvarez, a spokesperson with the sheriff’s office, said the water level was rising inside the vehicle as first responders tried to reach her.
“Imagine there’s 13 cars going up and down I-4. You know someone is drowning. You can hear them and you don’t want that to be the last call,” he explained. “Imagine you hearing that on the radio, it’s foggy and you can’t find her, but you can hear her. That’s kind of pressure, that kind of stress was intense.”
That’s when deputies Jeremy Pollack and Chris Sullivan, members of HCSO’s dive team, grabbed an air line and headed in.
“It was thick, muddy, disgusting water,” recalled Pollack.
The driver’s-side door barely budged, but the passenger door did. They dragged her out through there.
“In that scenario, where she was almost encased in mud, there was no way she would have been able to get out of that vehicle on her own,” said Pollack.