FAU, Premed Student Rescues Elderly Man From Sinking Car
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PORT ST. LUCIE (CBSMiami) – Bystanders filmed as a South Florida student rescued an elderly man inside a sinking car at a Port Saint Lucie lake.
Alton Brieske was in the right place at the right time.
Inside a sinking car sat 92-year old Salvatore Mancuso who was unconscious, not breathing and about to drown.
That's when Brieske saw the ordeal and sprang into action.
CLICK HERE to watch Elliott Rodriguez's report
"I immediately just took my shirt off and took my shoes off and just dove into the water," said Brieske.
In the video, you can hear Brieske as he hammers out the rear passenger window to unlock the door and with another man pull Mancuso to land.
But his luck didn't end there.
Brieske is a pre-med student at Florida Atlantic University who is studying to become an emergency room physician.
"It was just instinct. I just got in there, got him out and started CPR because I palpated for a pulse couldn't find one. I was listening for a breathing rhythm, couldn't find one so that's when I started CPR," said Brieske.
Mancuso's pulse returned and he was transported to a local hospital.
"Not a hero. How come? I would say like a guardian angel," said Joseph Byrne.
"Very heroic. We're so thankful for people to come to the aid of others," said Frank Sabol.
"I was just in the right spot at the right time. I mean, yes, it was a heroic act, but I was just doing what anybody else would do," said Brieske.
As of Thursday afternoon, Mancuso remains in the hospital in critical but stable condition.
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