Good Samaritans Help Rescue Woman Trapped In Sinking SUV
on Jan 21, 2026
Woman Rescued From Sinking SUV
On Friday (January 16) bystanders in Virginia Beach, Virginia, responded quickly to rescue a driver trapped inside a sinking SUV.
According to witnesses, the vehicle became stuck in water behind Bubba’s Restaurant and began to submerge at a rapid pace. The driver was unable to exit, and nearby community members joined to help.
Video footage showed multiple bystanders working together to free the driver, smashing windows and pulling the individual to safety just moments before the SUV was fully submerged.
“The car started to sink, and then two of these guys, these citizens, heroines, just lifted this person out of the water as the car was gone,” Dan Baker, a manager at Bubba’s. “I mean, they just lifted this person out of the water. It was crazy. It was surreal.”
Navy Rescue Swimmer Dives In After Sinking Vehicle
An aviation rescue swimmer also happened to be having lunch with a friend at Bubba’s when he first heard the crash. A 17-year Navy veteran, Jeremy Way said that once he learned a person was in the vehicle, he “dove right in.”
Way explained when he swam up to the SUV, the woman inside was unable to free herself to safety.
“I told her to ‘unlock it, unlock it’. And she was like, ‘No, I’m not unlocking it. I don’t want to be here,’” Way recalled. “I told her, like ‘We’ve all been there, just unlock it.’ She no longer could unlock it. She tried picking it with her fingers and tried to unlock the door, but it wasn’t working.”
Another man reportedly climbed in the car and was able to remove the woman. Way then swam with her to the shore.
“The car was completely underwater,” Way said. “She finally came out, and I did what I’ve always been taught, some rescue swimmer techniques, threw her in a cross-chest carry, threw on my hip and swam towards the pylons.”
Local authorities said that the driver and two rescuers were taken to the hospital with non-serious injuries.
Watch more footage of the remarkable rescue below.
