Father, son say they saved man after car crashes into pond in Vandalia

VANDALIA — A drive to the airport took an unexpected turn and a local father and son claim to have saved a life because of it.

>>PHOTOS: Car crashes into retention pond early Saturday in Vandalia

Around 4 a.m. Saturday morning Don and Cameron Da Cunha were on their way to the Dayton International Airport when they noticed a car in front of them swerving all over the highway.

Minutes later it took a hard right turn straight into a pond.

“So he had swerved into the median ... he almost hit the light pole, Don said.

Don said he pulled over and told his son to call 911 as he ran to the crash scene.

“Found where the fence area was, climbed over it and jumped right into the pond,” he said.

Don said he then swam to the driver’s window.

“I was like ‘you need to get out of your car it’s sinking’... at this point, the water was up to the window and the car was just slowly going underwater,” he said.

Cameron was on shore and Don was starting to struggle to stay above water himself.

So Cameron jumped into the water as Don caught his breath.

“Thankfully my dad caught his breath and helped me and then we managed by the grace of god to get (the driver) onto shore,” Cameron said.

Don and Cameron said at this point the man was unconscious, so Don started CPR.

Don said once first responders showed up, they took over and took down their information.

The father and son got on their way to the airport, after the detour that may have saved a man’s life.

“I’m just grateful that we were here right at the moment that this happened because I don’t know what would have happened to him otherwise,” Don said.

Don and Cameron said they want to know how the man is doing.

A post by Vandalia Division of Fire described the man’s injuries as “minor.”

We are working to learn about his current condition and will update this story as new information is available.

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