A man is currently in a critical condition following a harrowing incident that left his vehicle submerged in a Medley canal yesterday afternoon. Witnesses and authorities confirm that the man may have been experiencing a medical episode when he lost control of his car and careened into the water near the 9900 block of Northwest South River Drive, as reported by Local10.
The first responder, a Medley police officer, arrived swiftly at the scene, NBC Miami describes the officer's act of shattering a car window to facilitate the rescue of the driver whose vehicle had flipped upside down in the canal. A video taken by a bystander shows the stark aftermath with the car inverted and the tell-tale tracks on the bank, which delineated the vehicle's final, desperate path.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue teams subsequently arrived and dived into the water to retrieve the man. Following their intervention, the man was pulled from the car and immediate CPR was administered at the scene. The dramatic recovery operation culminated with dive teams surfacing the vehicle using cables—details of which were captured in videos from the scene, according to NBC Miami.
Currently, the driver remains hospitalized at Palmetto General Hospital where he is in critical condition. As is the case in such incidents, the man's identity and details concerning his age have been withheld from the public while investigations continue. Authorities have not released definitive conclusions on what caused the driver to plunge into the canal, however, the possibility of a medical episode prior to the crash is being considered, as Local10 reported.
Further updates on the driver's condition and the investigation will be provided as they become available.
