Video: Watch US student smash window to save 92-year-old man from sinking car

Alton Brieske was also able to revive the elderly man after performing CPR on dry land

Jack Simpson
Friday 12 December 2014 11:19 GMT
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Brieske decided to use a hammer when attempts to open the door from the outside were unsuccessful
Brieske decided to use a hammer when attempts to open the door from the outside were unsuccessful (AP)

A dramatic video has emerged that shows a student save the life of a 92-year-old driver just moments after his vehicle had plunged into a lake in Florida.

Alton Brieske, a 21-year-old pre-med student, was ordering lunch at the Hurricane Grill & Wings in Port St Lucie, Florida, when he heard a people screaming outside the restaurant.

Keen to find out what was causing the commotion, Brieske rushed out to find a group of people watching a silver Lincoln with an unconscious elderly man in the front seat sinking into the lake.

Brieske dove into the water in an attempt to save the 92-year-old Salvatore Mancuso and was soon joined by two other men.

Speaking to American news channel WPBF, Brieske said: “I was banging on the window saying, ‘Sir please, please, wake up’ and nothing happened.

“Then I noticed a crack in the window, and when that happened, I was like we need to get him out of here because it is going to sink.”

Hammer in hand, Brieske smashed the back window and was able to open one of the doors, before dragging Mancuso back to dry land.

The heroics didn’t stop there though, and with Mancuso still unconscious Brieske revived the elederly man through CPR.

An ambulance soon arrived to take Mancuso to a nearby hospital, where he is currently in a critical condition.

Reflecting on the event, the modest Brieske fended off claims that he was a hero.

He said: “People are saying you are a hero, but I am no hero, that was just my calling today, to save this guy.”

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