Man rescued from Schuylkill River in Philadelphia reunites with woman who saved his life: "You my angel"

The expression, right place, right time doesn't quite do this story justice.

Three weeks ago, a car went into the Schuylkill River when the man behind the wheel was having an emergency. A bystander happened to be at a nearby boathouse and within seconds, she dove into the water and reached the man just in time.

CBS News Philadelphia brought the two together Bryan Moses, 62, the man who almost died and Libby Peters, 43, the woman who saved his life.

The backstory

Moses and Peters were two strangers from two different walks of life who first met in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River on July 10th. 

Peters, a cancer survivor and former elite rower with the U.S. Women's National Rowing team was at the Temple Boathouse shooting a documentary with filmmaker Mike Nicholson when the unthinkable happened.

A car had gone into the Schuylkill River and without hesitation, Peters dove in to help.

"If I wanted to stop her, I couldn't have because she literally just got up and started yelling, 'get out of the car, get out of car,' as she's running down with her clothes on."

Peters estimates she swam about 100 grueling yards before she reached the car and helped bring a man inside to safety.

"It wasn't really a traumatic event, but it was- there was a lot of adrenaline," Peters said.

After nearly three weeks had gone by, Peters told us she hadn't stopped thinking about that man and if he was okay.

Reunion along the Schuylkill River

Fast forward to July 31st, in the exact spot they were three weeks ago, CBS News Philadelphia brought together Peters and Moses for a reunion they both desperately hoped would happen. At first site, Peters met Moses at the car door and both embraced and cried.

Moses said, "Thank you. Thank you so much." Peters replied, "I'm so happy to see you."

"Remember, I held your hand and said you were my angel," Moses said.

Peters replied, "I do remember."

After the initial emotion, Peters had the question for Moses we all had- How did his car end up in the Schuylkill River?

"You my angel"

Moses told CBS News Philadelphia he was feeling lightheaded that day and had pulled into the parking lot in between the Temple and St. Joseph's boathouses to use the bathroom but his feet were swollen from a previous injury.

"My feet was jammed under the brake. So now I'm trying to get my feet out (from under) the brake, not paying attention where I'm at and then I heard a splash," Moses said.

Peters immediately dove off the dock and after years rowing on the river and giving direction on the water, she didn't hesitate to start coaching Moses shouting at him to get out of the car.

"It's still the most impressive thing I've ever seen a human being do," Nicholson said.

Moses said the pressure from the water dislodged his foot and following Peters' direction,  he was able to squeeze out the car window.

"I kept losing conscious," Moses said. "She said, 'don't do this to me. Don't do this to me.'"

Nicholson, who knew he couldn't be a help in the water watched from the dock as Peters' voice traveled across the river, "Bryan, stay with me! Stay with me," he remembered hearing. "It was so harrowing," he said.

Peters held Moses up against the car as two other bystanders swam out with life vests. They reached Peters and Moses just as the car sank. Another bystander eventually took a motorboat out to bring everyone ashore.

Moses said, "I grabbed her hand and I said, 'You my angel.' While I was holding on the boat, I said, 'Don't leave me,' and here we are today."