Shane S. Mitchell helped to save Marla B. Zick from drowning, Tampa, Florida, March 31, 2016. Zick, 26, remained in the driver’s seat of her car after it left the highway, went down an embankment, and entered a retention pond. Upright, the car drifted to a point about 80 feet from the bank and then submerged in water about 10 feet deep. Mitchell, 32, carpenter, was driving nearby and witnessed the accident. He drove to a point on the bank opposite the car and then removed his shoes, entered the water, and swam to the vehicle. Submerging repeatedly, he was unsuccessful in attempts to open the car’s driver’s door and to release Zick’s safety belt, which he reached through the open window of that door. Visibility was severely compromised in the murky water. About that time, another motorist who had driven upon the scene also swam out to the car, but from a closer bank. She too dove repeatedly to access and free Zick and was also unsuccessful. While she swam to the bank for a cutting tool, Mitchell submerged again, released Zick’s safety belt, and resurfaced. Together, he and the other motorist, who had returned, then dove to the car and removed Zick, who was unconscious, through the window. Surfacing, they swam with her the 30 feet to the nearer bank, where others helped them lift Zick from the water. Zick required hospitalization, and Mitchell was nearly exhausted. They recovered.
88184 – 9918
88184-9918