Rescuer Pulls Mom, 2 Kids from Car in Minn. Pond

(CBS/AP)  The Minnesota Department of Transportation says a state highway first responder rescued a Twin Cities woman and her two children after the mother drove their car off a highway and into a pond.

A department spokesman says the emergency worker, Don Machacek, arrived at the pond in Richfield, just south of Minnesota, Wednesday afternoon to find the vehicle "nose-first and sinking."

He says Machacek opened a rear passenger door and pulled the three to safety. The car continued to sink.

CBS station WCCO in Minneapolis reports Around 1:30 p.m., Stella Obadioya was driving her son and daughter to Valleyfair when she said her brakes gave out. During the next few seconds they crashed through a series of fences and ended up in the middle of a pond. To make a dangerous situation even worse - none of them could swim.

"I left my seat in the front and moved to the back and we just held each other there and prayed," Obadioya said.

Obadioya and her children, ages 8 and 10, are OK.

The dramatic rescue was recorded by a traffic management camera.

"Once I saw they were okay I was happy I got them out ... and then I was ready to go home and take a shower," Machacek said.

To him, it's pretty matter of fact -- just another day on the job. To Obadioya and her family, it's so much more.

"He definitely did," Obadioya said. "God sent him to save my life. He was the angel that was sent."

The spokesman says the driver misjudged her exit from the Interstate 35W.

Local Video from WCCO in Minneapolis/St. Paul

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