Two Carlyle High School students rescue man from submerged car

Two Carlyle High School students saved a man’s life after his car flipped over in a pond Saturday night.

The man turned off Old U.S. 50 into Fish Hatchery Park when he’d gotten a phone call, according to Carlyle Police Chief Mark Pingsterhaus. Adjusting his Bluetooth set, the man lost control of his Lexus, which turned over onto the roof and into the water.

Tyler Guthrie and Tucker Johnson, both students at Carlyle High School, were driving in Johnson’s car when they saw the vehicle turn over about 100 yards in front of them.

“(We) were at the right place at the right time,” Johnson said.

When they saw the accident, the adrenaline kicked in, Guthrie said. Time seemed to slow down.

The students pulled over, got out, and checked on the car at the edge of the pond. The passenger-side door was locked, but they could hear a man inside crying for help, Johnson said.

Johnson called 911 while Guthrie picked up a rock and smashed the rear window.

Johnson gave a hand to the driver to help him out, and an ambulance arrived soon after.

“It doesn’t even seem real,” Guthrie said.

He and Johnson were the only people on the road at the time, he said. The bank is steep enough that if they hadn’t seen the car flip over, it’s doubtful whether anyone else would have, he added.

The students didn’t get a chance to speak with the man after the wreck, but his wife called them Wednesday night, Guthrie said. Her husband told them he was still in a little shock, but she thanked them.

Friends and family have also been thanking them, perhaps a little too conspicuously. “‘Here’s the heroes,’” their friends joke with them, Johnson said.

“I think the boys saved the man’s life,” Pingsterhaus said.

Johnson, 17, and Guthrie, 18, are both seniors and will be attending college in the fall, Guthrie said. Johnson will be going to Greenville College, and Guthrie will be attending Kaskaskia College.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Two Carlyle High School students rescue man from submerged car."