CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Chesapeake neighbors helped rescue a trapped driver from a sinking SUV after the vehicle went airborne and crashed into Indian Creek in Chesapeake.
Chris Kenney was driving home from dinner with his two children on Indian Creek Road Wednesday evening when he watched a silver Tahoe traveling in front of him suddenly veer off the roadway.
"The vehicle, it was a silver Tahoe that was directly in front of me, for no reason that I could see, just went off the right side of the road," Kenney said. "It then struck the ditch on the right side, went airborne, and flew probably somewhere between 15 and 20 yards, and then crashed unfortunately through the neighbor's fence here and then went into the water behind me," Kenney said.
The rescue was already underway by the time first responders arrived at the scene.
Kenney pulled over and saw the SUV floating down the waterway with an older man in the driver's seat. Knowing the vehicle would soon sink, Kenney yelled to a nearby neighbor who had come outside after hearing the crash. The neighbor retrieved a hatchet for Kenney to use to break the glass.
"He had shifted from the front seat into the back seat because the water filled up the front of the vehicle and he started banging on the glass and he was in a panic — and it was at that point I decided I had to go in," Kenney said.
Kenney used the hatchet to break the windows and successfully pulled the man out of the water. Just minutes after the rescue, the SUV became fully submerged.
The neighbor also brought towels and blankets to help keep the driver warm once he was safely on the shoreline.
Police said the driver was the only occupant of the vehicle. Neither the driver nor Kenney reported any injuries, but the driver was transported to Chesapeake Regional Medical Center for further evaluation. The vehicle was later recovered from the water.
"The Lord put me in the right place at the right time," Kenney said.
Kenney credited the neighbor for her crucial role in the rescue, calling it a community effort.
"By her providing me that hatchet, that was instrumental in me being able to do what I did, and so I believe a lot of the credit does go to her," Kenney said.
Kenney says he believes in the power of being kind and helping others.
"The world is a very negative place right now," Kenney said. "And I just wanted to bring light to the fact that if we continue to keep positivity in our lives and work to improve in ourselves, that we can make positive change at a time where you never know it’s gonna happen," Kenney said.
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