Woman recovering after being rescued from sinking car

NEW TAMPA (FOX 13) - A New Tampa woman is expected to be okay after being rescued from her car, which ended up in a retention pond.

Marla Zick, 26, drove her silver Mustang into a pond off New Tampa Boulevard and Meadow Pine Drive around 8 a.m. Thursday. The accident happened about five miles from her home.

Neighbors passing by noticed the car sinking into the water.

“It kept going further and further, then the nose went down and the whole car started sinking,” said Shane Mitchell, who spotted the accident while driving his son to school. “I just, I didn’t know what to do. I just started swimming, and when I got to the car, it was completely under water.”

Mitchell, along with Lisa Missana, a neighbor who also stopped to help, dove underwater attempting to free Zick, who was nearly unconscious, from her seat belt.

“I kept diving down and we couldn’t get the seat belt. I was so out of breath, but I was just afraid if we didn’t get the seat belt undone she was going to die down there. I knew we had to just get her out,” explained Mitchell.

Eventually, they were able to break the seat belt.

“We grabbed, her, we pulled her out the window, and brought her to shore,” said Lisa Missana. "She started breathing right away, luckily."

When paramedics arrived, Zick was conscious enough to tell them she has suffered seizures in the past. Zick is currently a student at the University of South Florida, majoring in Management Information Systems.

Zick was transported to the Florida Hospital.

“She was very, very thankful, as anybody would be in a situation like this, because this could have had a much worse outcome. What it’s looking like is she’s going to be just fine,” said Jason Penny, spokesperson for Tampa Fire Rescue.

The good Samaritans who rescued her said they simply did what they thought was right.

"Nothing goes through your head. You just instantly react,” said Missana. “I’ve never met her before, never saw her...I'm just glad she's going to be ok."