Hockessin Firefighters Rescue Woman Trapped in Icy Water

HOCKESSIN, DE (WTXF) - A car hit a patch of ice this morning on a Delaware road and ended up in a nearby creek.

Fox 29's Dawn Timmeney reported live in Hockessin where she talked to the heroes who saved the young woman's life.

"The seat of her car was in the air. She was holding herself up above the water," Hockessin Firefighter George Lamborn said.

These pictures taken by the Hockessin Fire Department show the dramatic scene as it unfolded this morning along creek road in Centerville.

An 18-year old woman's car flew off the road and into Red Clay Creek after hitting a patch of ice just before 7:30.

"The girl was trapped inside," Lamborn said.

Hockessin firefighter and EMT Matt Burge says he his partner George Lamborn knew they had to act fast.

"Basically our training and instinct kicked in and we jumped in the water," Burge said. "She was hysterical, panicking and George and I just kept talking to her..Keep her calm."

"We broke the window. My partner cut her seatbelt and we were able to drag her out through the window," Lamborn said.

The two were able to get the young woman safely to dry land and into a rescue truck They say she was probably in her car for about fifteen minutes, up to her neck in freezing cold water before being rescued.

"She deserves a lot of credit..she was able to hold herself up in such a situation," Lamborn said.

Conditions were not ideal for rescuers either, but these two says adrenalin kicks in and you do what you have to do.

"It was freezing temperature. The water had ice in it. It was extreme cold but again you don't realize it until you are coming out of it," Burge said.

Both men are downplaying their heroic efforts; they say this is what they train for and it is just part of the job. But they admit it feels good in a situation that could have played out much differently.

"The water was on us about chest high..so four and a half feet--so easily she could have drowned," Lamborn said.

"You have a lot more bad days than you have good days," Burge said.