SUNRISE, Fla. (WPLG) – An 88-year-old woman is dead after a tragic accident Wednesday evening.
Sunrise police say the woman drove over a concrete parking block and into the canal.
Surveillance video from a nearby apartment shows her car floating in the water.
One man who lives at the apartment complex went into the water to try to help, but the car started to fill up with water.
“I couldn’t do it. I got close, but the windows were down and the car filled up with water,” the good Samaritan said.
Neighbors identified the woman as a longtime resident of the complex.
A neighbor is now taking care of the woman’s 95-year-old husband.
“She was strong-willed, single-minded, stubborn as the dickens and she was a very good friend for 23 years,” the woman said.
As that man waded into the canal to see if he could help the woman, his daughter dialed 911 while the 88-year-old pleaded for help.
“I actually was a little angry with her. She probably shouldn’t have been driving,” the victim’s neighbor said.
Witnesses said the car went under and was underwater for up to 10 minutes before a Sunrise dive team arrived and pulled the woman out. She was taken to Westside Regional Hospital.
“I know I’m going to miss her. She used to bring me lemons every week for my iced tea,” the neighbor said. “She was very thoughtful, she was very giving, and everybody knows her around here.”
Despite the attempts to save the woman by both good Samaritans and local officials, the victim would not survive.
“I feel really sad because she asked us for help and I just keep thinking that she probably thought she was going to be saved,” a witness said.
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