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Florida man pulls unconscious woman from sinking car in intense video

Click to play video: 'Good Samaritans rush to save woman who drove into canal'
Good Samaritans rush to save woman who drove into canal
WATCH: Dramatic video shows the moment bystanders rushed to help save a woman who drove into a canal in Florida on Feb. 23 – Feb 24, 2020

A Florida man is being hailed a hero after he pulled an unconscious woman from her sinking car on Sunday.

The dramatic rescue was caught on camera and shared on the Facebook page of Shawn Turner, the hero of the day. Turner can be seen holding onto the unnamed woman’s white SUV, which had driven into a canal in Palm Beach County.

“She’s out cold!” Turner can be heard screaming, trying to pull the door open with no luck. Meanwhile, two other people can be seen jumping into the water to help.

Moments later, Turner reaches in to open the passengers’ side window, pulls himself through and unbuckles the victim from her seat.

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“She’s having a seizure still,” someone says in the video.

As the car begins to quickly sink, Turner’s son can be heard yelling: “Dad, get out!” Eventually, Turner and the two other people in the water are able to free the woman, move her through the driver’s side window and pull her out to safety.

Though the camera pans down to the grass, the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue filled in the blanks for viewers worried about the victim’s safety.

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Taking to Twitter, the organization shared a series of images of officers and divers at the scene, writing that one person was taken to hospital after their vehicle went into the canal.

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The pictures show the white car submerged in the murky water, as well as a group of divers with oxygen tanks getting ready to dive in.

Turner told ABC7 he and his son were driving by at around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday when they saw the vehicle in the canal.

“When I got out the truck I asked if anybody had seen anybody in the car,” Turner told the broadcaster. “They said there was somebody in the car, I know cars don’t float long, so I jumped in as quick as possible.

“And then I crawled in there, undid her seatbelt, and then I pushed her out the window.”

Though the man is being called heroic, he said the rescue wouldn’t have been possible without the others who jumped in to help him.

“I’m glad that Adam Gunn was there to help me out because I couldn’t have got her to the side without him,” he told ABC7. “It was a team effort and we got her to the side and waited for paramedics to come. Once we knew she was breathing we took a little bit more time.”

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The woman’s condition is unknown, though Turner said she was breathing when they got her to dry land.

meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca

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