HUDSON, N.H. (WHDH) - It was a family affair for the Coombes men when they rushed to the rescue to save a driver from a frigid pond in Hudson, New Hampshire on Sunday.
Ten-year-old Jeremiah Coombes said that he was the first to hear the crash, so he ran into his church to get his dad, who was in the middle of choir practice.
“I heard some guy screaming for help so I ran into the auditorium as fast as I could,” he explained.
Steve Coombes ran out with some of his fellow church members and his three other sons.
“The water was halfway up in the car I did not see a person I just saw arms,” Steve recalled. “I did not see a head and that concerned me because I immediately thought the person must be underwater.”
Steve tried to pull the driver out from the front door to no avail. His 14-year-old son Jacob was right behind him the whole time.
“At first I was trying to hold the door open for him,” Jacob said. ” the water was up to my waist it was pretty cold but at that point, the adrenaline kicked in.”
While the group of rescuers made attempt after attempt to bring the man to safety, Steve Coombes’ eldest sons called for help.
“Right when I got over to the water is when I started to call 911,” Caleb Coombes said. “I was on the phone with 911 the entire time and they were telling me what to do.”
Eventually, the group was able to pull the driver out of the back door and drag him to safety.
“By the time I caught up they had just about gotten the guy out of the car. They really needed towels, I raced back to the church ran back got some towels,” Elijah Coombes recalled.
Cellphone video shows the aftermath of the dramatic rescue.
Hudson police officers say the driver of the overturned truck slammed into the back of a Honda CRV and the force of the impact sent him careening down an embankment and over into the freezing pond.
The Coombes family said they are frightened to think what would have happened had they not attended church that day.
“God put us in the right place at the time,” said.
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