A local handyman and two other men are being hailed as heroes after rescuing a woman who was trapped inside an overturned car.
Ed Mclean, the owner of Suburban Handyman, says he was driving on Route 52 in Pocopson Township, Chester County around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday when he noticed a vehicle coming towards him, driving erratically.
“She started fishtailing coming towards me, 100 yards away,” said Mclean. “She tried to recover and it just got worse.”
Mclean says the vehicle ran over a guard rail and went flying.
“She just missed me and she went airborne,” he said.
The vehicle flipped over and landed upside down into the creek below. Mclean, who says he was a former member of the National Guard, immediately took action.
“I pointed to the guy driving behind me and I told him to call 911,” Mclean said. “I ripped open the back of my door and started grabbing crow bars.”
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Mclean, the driver who stopped behind him, as well as a man who lived nearby ran inside the creek and began using the crowbars to pry the doors of the vehicle open.
“Once we got it pried open, we could hear someone in there,” Mclean said.
The three men then saw a dazed young woman who was trapped inside.
“I asked if she could breathe,” said Mclean. “She said she was running out of space because the water was up to her chin.”
Mclean quickly ran back to his truck and took out an airline hose. He then returned to the creek.
“I threw the hose on to help her breathe until they got her out,” he said.
Mclean then began to record using his phone as the other two men managed to pull the young woman to safety. While Mclean says she was “shaken up,” he also says she didn’t appear to be injured. The men stayed with the woman and gave her a blanket until the ambulance arrived. Amazingly, police say, the young girl did not require any medical attention.
Mclean says he didn’t get the chance to find out the girl’s name but hopes he’ll get to meet her again.
“Maybe someday down the road we’ll see how she’s doing,” he said. “I’m sure all three of us would like to see her in the future sometime.”
For now though, Mclean and the other two Good Samaritans can live with the knowledge that a young woman is alive and well thanks to their heroic actions.
