Current:Home > ScamsRobert Brown|The Good Samaritan is also a lobsterman: Maine man saves person from sinking car -WealthRoots Academy
Robert Brown|The Good Samaritan is also a lobsterman: Maine man saves person from sinking car
Benjamin Ashford View
Date:2025-04-09 03:29:10
A Maine lobsterman who saw a car sinking in a bay on Robert BrownThursday afternoon sprang into action, grabbing his diving gear and helping first responders pull out the unconscious driver.
Manny Kourinos, a lobsterman who also has a mooring service company in Portland, Maine, said he was filled with adrenaline and knew he had the right gear to help. Kourinos told USA TODAY he's been diving for over 20 years and didn't hesitate to get in the water.
"It was a complete adrenaline rush. Other people were in the water trying to do the best they could, but they didn't have scuba gear," he said. "It was just automatic, didn't even think about it when it was happening."
Kourinos said he jumped from the lobster boat, dove to the car, grabbed the person inside by the waist and pulled them out of the driver's side window.
The 33-year-old person rescued from the car, who was not identified by authorities, was unresponsive and had no pulse but was able to be revived and is in stable condition at Maine Medical Center, police in Portland said in a statement posted to social media.
"I'm a spiritual person. I believe I was placed to be at the right place at the right time and I hope the person, the victim, has a full recovery and I wish the best for them and their family and friends," Kourinos said.
Local news footage from News Center Maine showed images of the brightly colored car sinking into the water nose-first. By the time Kourinos got under the water, he estimated it had sunk 12 to 15 feet below the surface and was resting on the seabed, he said.
The Portland Police Department said they responded to a report of a car entering the water in the East End Beach area at the Casco Bay. It wasn't clear what caused the car to go into the water, police said, but it had been reported stolen out of South Portland earlier in the day.
Kourinos said he didn't see the vehicle go into the water, but saw something orange in the water and realized it was a car when he brought his boat closer, heard sirens and saw people swimming toward it.
After rescuing the person, Kourinos said he went back down to make sure there wasn't anybody else in the car and to get the car's license plate number.
'WHOLE WAY OF LIFE':Warming waters threaten Maine's lobster fishing
Having to recover a body underwater "has always been one of my biggest fears," Kourinos said, but he was hopeful first responders would be able to save the person.
After the daring rescue, "we went back to work... nobody's going to do my work," he said.
veryGood! (996)
Related
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Georgia’s largest utility looks to natural gas as it says it needs to generate more electricity soon
- Christian right cheers new House speaker, conservative evangelical Mike Johnson, as one of their own
- Leo Brooks, a Miami native with country roots, returns to South Florida for new music festival
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- California governor’s trip shows US-China engagement is still possible on a state level
- U.S. strikes Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria to retaliate for attacks on U.S. troops
- Smaller employers weigh a big-company fix for scarce primary care: Their own medical clinics
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- NASA works to recover 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid sample from seven-year mission
Ranking
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Looking for ghost stories? Here are 5 new YA books that will haunt you
- All you can eat economics
- Shooting on I-190 in Buffalo leaves 1 dead, 2 injured
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- 6 of 9 deputies charged in death of man beaten in Memphis jail plead not guilty
- Kim Kardashian Wants You to Free the Nipple (Kind of) With New SKIMS Bras
- Democratic Rep. Jared Golden reverses course, now in favor of assault weapons ban after Maine mass shootings
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Museum plan for Florida nightclub massacre victims dropped as Orlando moves forward with memorial
Hunt for killer of 18 people ends in Maine. What happened to the suspect?
Probe finds ‘serious failings’ in way British politician Nigel Farage had his bank account closed
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
These Secrets About the Halloween Franchise Are Pure Pumpkin Spice
Israel resists U.N.'s calls for ceasefire as Hamas says Gaza death toll is soaring
Jazz legend Louis Armstrong's connection to Queens on full display at house museum in Corona