WINCHENDON, MA (WHDH) — A dramatic rescue played out in Winchendon after a car crashed into an icy pond, leaving the driver scrambling to pull himself out.
The car began to sink into the icy waters more than 10 feet from shore around 4 a.m. on Sunday.
“All of sudden you could hear bubbling and the car started sinking,” Deputy Chief Ricci Ruschioni said.
Nearby, a plow driver clearing a church parking lot saw the crash and called 9-1-1.
The pastor said he isn’t surprised by the plow drivers quick actions.
“Corey Wilson is a really good guy and it’s just something that he would normally do for anybody. He is just that kind of guy,” said Pastor Calvin Miller.
The man inside the car pulled himself out, moving to the roof to escape the water.
Responding firefighters put on dive suits and threw a rope to the driver, telling him to tie it around so they could pull him to safety.
“When he wrapped it around him, we just said ‘hold on,’ and we pulled him out of the water,” Ruschioni said.
Once the rope was tied, firefighters, police and DPW workers pulled the driver to safety before the car sank under the water.
“It was amazing to see that the driver was able to get himself out and sit on the car,” Miller said.
The fire department dive teams worked with a local towing company to get the car out of the pond.
Officials said the driver is expected to be okay.
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