Lucky Florida Woman Rescued After Being Trapped In Submerged SUV For Ten Hours

An 81-year-old woman in Venice, Florida, spent an estimated 10 hours in the water in a nearly submerged SUV before she got rescued by two good Samaritans.

Venice authorities claimed the woman drove down a boat ramp and into the water at Higel Marine Park at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The surveillance video of the incident showed the victim drove onto the boat ramp before 9:30 pm, and the driver was not able to get out of the vehicle.

The car was soon engulfed in water, trapping the distressed woman for several hours. The water-filled the vehicle fast, leaving less than a 12 inch pocket of air for her to breathe.

Rob Goodman, a former Iowa reserve deputy, and Ed Coster, a retired firefighter from New York City, came across the woman on Thursday morning. Goodman came to the ramp to go kayaking while Coster went to go paddleboarding.

They both showed up on the scene at the same time. As Goodman launched his Kayak, he spotted something white in the water, and that is when they went to investigate.

It was the top of the woman’s SUV.

He mentioned her hand came up out of the vehicle, and that is when things became very grave, quickly because they knew they had to act fast.

Coster believes they were meant to be there to assist the woman considering the first two boat ramps he first went to were closed.

He said that when he peered into the window of the almost submerged SUV, he could see she just had a little bit of air. Her face was pressed up against the roof, trying to breathe.

Goodman said the woman was cold, so he just held on to her after they got her out of the vehicle.

Venice Fire Chief Shawn Carvey claimed the woman was extremely lucky. He said the odds were stacked up against her considering she had been in the water for 10 hours already.

She could have gotten exhaustion and passed out in the water long before then. There is also the aspect of her age and the water temperatures, which made the situation more precarious.

Coster said he believes God put them there for a reason, so it is nice to know that people are on earth to help others and not just themselves.

It is still not clear how the victim drove on to the boat ramp, though, as investigations are still ongoing.