New York: 18-year-old drives into the water

Mia Samolinski’s father: “She’s here today because it was him”

“I just heard a huge splash and everyone ran towards the jetty,” he told CBS New York. “So I just jumped in.” He did not know the driver. Mia goes to the same high school as him. “She banged on the door, banged on the window and tried to break the window. That made me kind of nervous, I was scared for her,” he said. “WABC” A group of onlookers just stood there with their cell phones on it. “So I just undressed and went into the water. (…) Suffocating is one of my worst fears, I couldn’t imagine anyone going through that in front of my eyes,” he told CBS. “I think anyone would make that decision.” The footage shows that several other people are standing on the pier and watching instead of acting.

Together they tried to open the driver’s door, but it didn’t work. Then he realized that he could use his face to free the young woman. “My weight caused the nose of the car to go deeper into the water so the tail was sticking out of the water,” he said. “We opened the back of the car and she was able to escape through the back.” They swam ashore together. Mia cried and thanked him. Her father, Charlie Samolinski, also found emotional words in an interview with “WABC”: “She is here today because it was him. (…) There was a group of people on the jetty. They filmed, he acted “, he said. You can replace your car, but not your child. Anthony is the “true hero of the day”.

The car has since been recovered from the bay. According to media reports, Anthony Zhongor will graduate from high school next week before joining the US Navy in South Carolina. (cwa)