Two "heroic civilians" rescued a trapped person from a partially submerged BMW at Isla Key Bridge on Wednesday, St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue officials said.
After 911 operators receive multiple calls after 10:27 a.m. about a car traveling off the side of the road, down an embankment and over a seawall, emergency personnel rushed to the scene.
Rescuers found that Kevin Daly of St. Petersburg and Gus Hertz of Roanoke, Va. had already pulled a male victim from the vehicle.
Authorities said Daley was fishing by the bridge when the car crashed into the water, and Hertz witnessed the accident with his wife from his condo window.
Hertz ran down to help Daly rescue the victim.
This wasn’t the first water rescue for Daly. He said he used to be a rescue diver for Madeira Beach.
"Luckily, I could help him out,” Daly said. “I'm glad he's OK. He doesn't even seem to be scratched."
He said he was just in the right place at the right time.
"I'm sure if you saw it, you'd do the same thing,” he said. “It's just a normal reaction I think."
Paramedics treated the victim, who has not been identified, and transported him in stable condition to Palms of Pasadena Hospital.