Terry Ray Odom helped to save Ray J. Davis from drowning, East Naples, Florida, July 3, 2008. Davis, 55, was the driver of a sport utility vehicle that left the roadway, entered a golf course lake, and began to submerge, upright, in water about 25 feet deep. Driving behind him, Odom, 49, business operator, witnessed the accident. He parked and ran to the lake, removing his shirt and shoes. With the vehicle then about 25 feet from the bank, Odom waded and swam to it. After attempting unsuccessfully to open its driver’s door, he reached through the door’s open window, grasped Davis, and attempted to pull him out, but again without success. Odom then climbed through a window into the vehicle as it continued to submerge. Another man who had witnessed the accident also swam out to the vehicle. As he reached through the driver’s door window and pulled on Davis, Odom grasped Davis by the torso and pushed on him. They struggled, as Davis’s leg was caught on the steering wheel. Davis became free as the vehicle submerged. The other man took him to the surface and swam to the bank with him as Odom climbed through the window of the passenger door and surfaced. He too swam to the bank. Davis required a month’s hospitalization, and Odom sustained a laceration to his foot, from which he recovered.
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