Strangers Save Driver From Sinking Car in Chesapeake

When Chris Kenny saw the car ahead of him veer off the road and crash through a fence into Indian Creek, he had maybe three minutes before it would be too late.

The Chesapeake resident had just finished dinner with his two kids on Wednesday evening when the vehicle in front of him went airborne after hitting a ditch. It landed in the creek and immediately started sinking with the driver trapped inside.

Kenny pulled over and flagged down a nearby resident who quickly grabbed a hatchet from his home. Without hesitation, Kenny jumped into the cold water and used the tool to smash through the car window.

"I yelled for them to get me a tool to be able to break the glass because I suspected that at some point the vehicle was gonna go underwater," Kenny said. He pulled the driver to safety just moments before the car disappeared completely beneath the surface.

But Kenny is quick to point out he didn't act alone. The neighbor who retrieved the hatchet, other drivers who stopped to help, and everyone who jumped in without thinking twice made the rescue possible.

Why This Inspires

Kenny's children watched their father wade into freezing water to save a stranger's life. For him, it was the example he wanted to set for them and a reminder of what people can accomplish when they work together.

"We were all perfect strangers," Kenny said. "It doesn't matter your political affiliation, it doesn't matter your religious affiliation. The world is a very negative place right now. We can make positive change at a time where you never know what's going to happen."

Kenny served in the fire department for years but said he'd never faced a situation quite like this one. He believes being in that exact spot at that exact moment wasn't an accident.

The driver walked away from the crash thanks to people who chose to act instead of passing by. In a world that often feels divided, a creek in Chesapeake became the site of something simple and powerful: strangers choosing each other.