Good Samaritans rescue man after car plunges into pond

Upper Merion Township, Pa. (WTXF) - Two Good Samaritans rescued a man after a car plunged into a pond in Upper Merion Township.

Only a newly replaced guardrail and a vehicle headrest floating in the nearby pond offered clues as to the drama that played out at the intersection of Croton and Warner roads late Tuesday afternoon when an out-of-control black Lexus sped past two strangers sitting in their vehicles at the intersection.

Our heroes: Bill Bostic: "He went straight and he hit the guardrail and he launched in the air and smashed into the water. It was violent. It was crazy, crazy loud." And Kemp Littlepage: "It looked like one of those motor cross--the car just was out there and landed maybe 40 maybe 50 feet out."

On video recorded by an eyewitness, Littlepage, 70 years old and an avid swimmer, can be seen arriving at the stricken vehicle first at the driver's side door.

"I realized it was a life-or-death situation," said Littlepage. "I had to get in the water, which I did. I took off my shoes and my shirt and went into the water and swam out there."

Bostic, 49, and president of a local construction management company, was not far behind, approaching from the front passenger door.

But the stunned driver could offer no help.

"(He had a) death grip on the (steering wheel). You couldn't break him. I couldn't get him off it. I'm yelling at him, 'You have to let go, you have to let go.' And the water's coming up and he's gargling the water. I mean, we're going down now."

"I'm trying to pry his hand off the steering wheel," said Littlepage. "And I had my hand under his chin because the water at that point was up to his lips.

Finally, with the car sinking, success! Bostic got the passenger door open, and pulled on the victim as Littlepage pushed from the driver's side.

"And then, like if it was a movie, the car sank," said Bostic. "As soon as we got him out, the car went down the rest of the way."

Bostic and Littlepage dragged the accident victim through the water to the embankment, where EMTs soon arrived to rush him to the hospital

It wasn't till hours later, that Littlepage had a moment to reflect on what had happened

"I came home, you know, with my adrenaline and I started crying because of the implications. What had happened and the pressure that I'd been on."

There's no word on what caused the driver to lose control of his car. He's not been identified, but is believed to be recovering at a local hospital

As for Littlepage, he says friends saw news reports of the incident and bought him dinner.

His wife? Well, he says she scolded him for dragging mud into the house.

All in all, it was a full day.