Members of the Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department remove debris from Davis Stream after a vehicle left Route 32 and sank in the stream on the afternoon of Friday, March 28. The occupant, a man from Waldoboro whose identity was not immediately available, was rescued by bystanders. (Molly Rains photo)
Bystanders jumped into action to help rescue a driver after his vehicle entered Davis Stream in Jefferson and began to sink on the afternoon of Friday, March 28.
“I was driving over the bridge, and I saw the tail end of the car sticking out, so I pulled over,” said Hannah Meneses, of Whitefield, one of two bystanders who swam through the cold waters of Davis Stream to rescue the driver.
Lincoln County Communications paged the Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department and Waldoboro EMS to the scene at about 1:08 p.m. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.
The driver, a man in his 60s from Waldoboro, was traveling south on Route 32 when he left the road, crossed over Steamboat Lane and the grass beyond it, and entered Davis Stream, said LCSO Deputy Scott Hayden. The driver’s name was not immediately available.
Meneses said she ran to the stream and asked other onlookers, who had congregated by the water’s edge, whether there was anybody inside the vehicle. They said yes, and Meneses jumped into action.
“I swam up to the car, and I can’t see in the window, but I started hearing this (banging,) so I knew the person was alive,” she said.
Meneses said adrenaline carried her through the next few minutes.
She called out to the other bystanders that they needed something to break the glass, and another man swam to the car with a tire iron, Meneses said.
“Most of the vehicle was submerged at that point, so the window that he was able to break was not big enough,” Meneses said. At that point, she took the tire iron and began to break through the rear windshield, she said.
Water continued flooding into the car, and for a frightening moment, Meneses said, the car and occupant sank out of her sight.
“I started panicking,” she said. “I thought I made a mistake.”
Then, the driver successfully freed himself from the car and came to the surface.
“He came out from under the water, and I just swam to shore with him,” Meneses said.
The driver, Meneses, and the other bystander were evaluated by Waldoboro EMS on scene.
The scene was cleared at 1:51 p.m.
The vehicle was fully submerged and remained in the stream as of that time, according to Hayden.
This story will be updated.
