Family of three rescues 75-year-old woman from overturned car in canal

A family of three is being hailed as heroes by authorities after they took action to save an elderly woman whose car plunged into a canal.

Cyle Johnson, 28, and his wife Ashley Martin, 27, were visiting a home on Larkin Road in Live Oak, California, at around 12:20 p.m. local time on Monday, November 25, as their 6-year-old daughter, who was playing in front , saw the accident, the Yuba-Sutter Division of the California Highway Patrol wrote in a Facebook post.

The young girl ran into the house to tell her parents, authorities said, prompting Cyle to jump over the front fence into the canal while Ashley ran outside to help.

The car, belonging to 75-year-old Robbie Carpenter, landed upside down in an irrigation canal that was filled with about two feet of water from recent rains, according to the social media post.

The couple found Carpenter unresponsive and still strapped into the driver’s seat with her head submerged in the water, officials said.

Cyle then reached into the car, opened the door and forced it open before an unknown passerby stopped and helped him with a knife to cut the seatbelt.

Together, they were able to get Carpenter to safety and stayed with her until first responders arrived, authorities said. They added that Carpenter was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

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“Without the heroic actions of Cyle, Ashley and their daughter, the outcome would have been very different,” officials said in the post. “We applaud this family’s life-saving actions!”

The California Highway Patrol also praised Cyle, noting that this is not the first time he has helped someone after a car accident. Officials said he was first on the scene of a fatal October crash on SR-99 near Howsley Road, where he helped an injured man who was recently released from the hospital.

“Cyle is the man you need in times of need,” officials said.