Teen Rescues Driver After SUV Plunges Into Water

Long Island, New York — A teen boy in New York has been hailed a hero after his prompt action saved the life of a female driver, who accidentally drove her SUV into the water, reports said.

The video of the miraculous rescue has gone viral on social media.

The 17-year-old Long Island resident, Anthony Zhongor, jumped into action Tuesday when he saw the car plunging into the water, thus saving the 18-year-old driver, Mia Samolinski, NBC News reported.

According to reports, Samolinski accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, while leaving the South Ocean Avenue parking lot shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, sending the vehicle into Patchogue Bay adjacent to it.

“I heard a huge splash and saw everyone running toward the dock. I don’t know what happened,” Zhongor recollected. 

According to the surveillance video of the incident, while many onlookers watched, Zhongor dived into the water and swam toward the vehicle. He then managed to open the door on the driver’s side of the vehicle and pulled out Samolinski, who was taken to a nearby dock.

Both Zhongor and Samolinski did not have any injuries in the incident. The SUV was later pulled from the bay with a heavy-duty wrecker.

Zhongor did not think twice before jumping to help the woman, as he could relate to the fear of getting stuck inside a vehicle.

“Dying, being stuck in one of my worst fears, so I couldn’t imagine someone going through that right in front of me,” he said.

“She was banging on the door, banging on the window, trying to break the window of course. And then that kind of got me nervous, scared for her. I took my clothes off and went into the water. The dive was pretty, pretty far, so it was just right there as soon as I looked up, grab the door handle,” Zhongor added, as reported by 7 News.

Samolinski’s father, Charles Samolinski, met Zhongor Wednesday and thanked him for saving his daughter.

“He jumped out of his car and jumped in and because of that, my daughter is alive and not really harmed, you know?” Charles said. “I mean, it’s a miracle.” 

Photo: pixabay