State Troopers, Passerby Rescue Driver Whose Car Flipped Into Deep Puddle Under Highway Overpass
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Two Minnesota state troopers and a passerby are being credited with saving a woman's life Wednesday night after they cut her out of her upside-down, partly-submerged vehicle and revived her on the side of Interstate 35.
The Minnesota State Patrol says the rescue happened around 10 p.m. in Wyoming after 22-year-old Allyson Andert lost control of her vehicle on the interstate's southbound lanes. The vehicle flipped and landed on its roof in a two-foot deep puddle of standing water under the Highway 8 overpass.
"The entire time I was fighting for my life and kept telling myself, I need to keep fighting. The reason I kept fighting is because I didn't want my mom to get the call I was dead, and I kept fighting for her," Andert said in a statement.
Two troopers and a passerby quickly responded, cutting Andert's seat belt and pulling her unresponsive body from the vehicle, the patrol said. Immediately, one trooper began CPR. As she regained consciousness, Andert spat out water.
After Andert fully came-to, emergency crews brought her to Regions Hospital, where she is listed in stable condition.
The name of the passerby has yet to be released. More information on the rescue is expected at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Read Allyson Andert's full statement below:
"I remember everything leading up to the crash. I was driving home from my friend's house. As I drove down the Interstate, I saw standing water on the highway. I saw the water on the road and slowed way down, but I ended up hydroplaning and losing control of the vehicle, hitting a barrier. I was then launched into the other lane of traffic, where I could not gain control of my truck, despite all my efforts. My vehicle then launched over the snow barrier and flipped in mid-air, landing on the roof and into a holding pond.
"I felt all of this happening. I was panicking and reaching for the seat belt, trying to unbuckle, but I could not. I felt the water getting higher and higher in the pickup truck. It eventually ended up covering my face as I was on my back. I remember trying to free myself as I felt the water and snow covering my body and face. The entire time I was fighting for my life and kept telling myself, I need to keep fighting. The reason I kept fighting is because I didn't want my mom to get the call I was dead, and I kept fighting for her. I eventually lost consciousness.
"First and foremost to the troopers, I want to say thank you for taking me out of the vehicle and thank you for not viewing me as a lost cause. I would also like to say thank you to the bystander who witnessed this and called 911. If not for that person, I would not be here today and able to thank everyone who was involved. I truly felt I was going to die, but thanks to everyone involved, my mom did not have to get that call that she lost her oldest daughter and first child. I would eventually like to meet the troopers and thank them in person."