Florida family trapped inside overturned car in canal rescued by police, firefighters and good Samaritan

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Police, firefighters and a good Samaritan in Florida worked together last week to rescue a family trapped inside a car that crashed and flipped over into a canal.

Officers responded to a retention pond off Lee Vista Boulevard on Thursday night to find the overturned car with a father and his two sons, ages 12 and 4, still inside, Orlando police said.

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Orlando police released body camera footage of the dramatic rescue on Monday.

Officer Mckenzie Greene told FOX35 Orlando that arriving on the scene and hearing 12-year-old Gabriel screaming as he climbed out of the pond was “gut curdling” and gave the officers “goosebumps all over.”

Gabriel was able to free himself from the car, but his 4-year-old brother and their father were still trapped inside the car, according to the video. Gabriel can be heard pleading with officers to save them.

Police said the family was safe and in good health following the rescue. (Orlando Police Department)

Firefighters had to cut off the doors of the car to free the child and his father in an operation that took nearly 40 minutes, the station reported.

Jose Diaz, a good Samaritan who was driving behind the family’s car when it lost control and crashed, had called police for help and immediately jumped into the water to help the family, he told the Orlando Sentinel. Diaz kept the 4-year-old’s head above water until firefighters could free him, police said.

Diaz told the paper that he didn’t hesitate to jump into the chilly water, adding that his “main worry” was to “try to save the life of the kids.”

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Police said the family is safe and in good health, and thanked Diaz, the officers, and the firefighters who helped to rescue them.