Former Marine rescues two women from car trapped in water

HAMMOND, Ind. (WLS) – Cellphone video caught the moment a former Marine jumped into action in northwest Indiana to save two women.

Carlos Fernandez was driving near I-80 and Kennedy Avenue near Hammond around 6 p.m. Thursday when he noticed a black car off the road and submerged in water.

“My original plan was I was gonna grab my chain from the back of my truck and I was gonna pull the car out,” he said. “I didn’t know there was anybody in the car, and a gentleman yelled out, ‘There’s two people in the car.’ And as soon as I heard that I instantly jumped in the water.”

Fernandez can be seen on video carrying the women out of the water.

“They were both freaking out a little bit, they were both scared. You could tell there wasn’t a lot of water at that point in time, but once I opened the door it became a lot of water,” he said.

The rescue took place within five minutes. Fernandez took three trips into the water to help the women before Indiana State Police arrived.

“When I opened the door, one by one they started coming out, and I realized there was walkers in the back,” he said. “One of the ladies had her foot stuck in the mud and she couldn’t walk, so I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m carrying them out.’”

Fernandez said it can get really dark in the area at night and there are no signs to warn drivers.

“I would like if they can even put one of those signs right here that states, ‘Hey, you gotta turn this way’ because at night you can’t see this,” he said. “Nobody knows this is here.”

Fernandez said both of the women seemed to make it out without any major injuries.

He said this act of heroism is something he expects of himself.

“I just felt like it was the right thing to do,” he said. “I think it was the Marine in me, just, ‘Hey, you always have to do the right thing.’ Something we preach in the Marine Corps is integrity: doing the right thing when nobody is looking.”

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