BULLARD, Texas — A group of East Texans are being praised as local heroes after responding to an awful single vehicle crash Monday night that could’ve killed the driver.
It was just before midnight when a woman crashed her vehicle into a pond near FM 346 and Olivia Lane in the Bullard area. Local teenager Kyle Schneider recalled what the scene looked like that night.
He said the driver came off the road after the curve and took out one of the yellow caution signs. He said the driver then hit a ditch before the pond causing her to jump, skip and then flip her car upside down into the pond.
"We didn't know how many people were in there or what to expect if she was going to be conscious or even alive," Schneider said.
Bullard Fire Chief Peter Riley said before first responders arrived at the scene to his surprise the vehicle had already been flipped back over.
The group of East Texans included Schneider and three other teenagers who took quick action to save the driver's life.
"I had to swim over and get over the car," said Drew Bowers, another nearby Bullard resident. "We ended up flipping it over so the lady could have like an air pocket."
The group said the woman coughed up water and seemed traumatized from the crash.
"If they hadn't acted in the way that they did and the car remained upside down in the pond, we definitely would have been responding to a different type of incident last night," Riley said.
Riley said they plan to work with the city and community to find a way to honor these residents. Until then one neighbor, David Isbell, who also assisted in saving the driver's life, said this area sees too many crashes like this one.
"In the three years we've lived here there's been three deaths and I'd say at least a dozen other accidents," Isbell said.
Isbell said there was another crash next to his home last week. He mentioned a nearby power line pole along with a stop sign have been hit several times.
"There's little to no shoulder on this road," Isbell said. "It is a steep, steep embankment on the far side. Something has to be done, something needs to be done."
Until then these Bullard residents are ready to help anyone in need in daylight or nighttime. Schneider wants to remind people to drive carefully on FM 346.
"Don't just get on your phone or (have) one hand doing something else because that turn will catch up on you and you will wind up in the pond," Schneider said.