A woman is in the hospital after her vehicle wound up in a canal in Apollo Beach.
The incident happened shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday on Balboa Lane.
The driver was identified as 49-year-old Elizabeth Barnette who lives in the neighborhood.
According to neighbors, Barnette was driving down the road when she took a corner too sharply.
Dr. Kevin Hughes and his wife were enjoying an afternoon on their back dock at the time.
“(The SUV) took out a sign,” he said, “all of a sudden turned and came shooting across our side of the road, went into the canal.”
Hughes didn’t hesitate to help.
“It's just something you have to do," he said. "I jumped in, swam up to the car, was getting ready to break out the window and it starts rolling down. I looked in, the lady was asking if I could help her."
Hughes and another neighbor were able to guide the car toward his dock, and help the woman stay above water until paramedics took it from there.
“I really thought I was going to be pulling someone out from 7-feet deep and drowning myself in the process. But you do what you have to do,” he said.
The Hughes family said speeding has been an issue in their neighborhood around that corner. They even put up palm trees to protect their home.
Barnette was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. A wrecker towed the vehicle out of the water.