FOX 29: Two men jumped into the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia on Thursday and pulled two young men out of a sinking car during rush hour. One of the rescuers told Fox 29 what happened. Chris DeFelice was rowing a single skull in the river when he heard a screech of tires at 9:15 a.m. and sensed that there going to be an accident. DeFelice heard a crunch-like sound, and saw a car rolling backward in to the water near Kelly Drive. DeFelice quickly rowed to where the car was sticking out of the water, with its trunk upright and the engine below the water. He saw the driver side window was down and asked two young men in the car if they were OK. DeFelice said they yelled back that they couldn’ t swim. At that moment the car sank below the surface. MORE
ACTION NEWS: Chris Defelice had just wrapped up his morning row workout on the river when he heard the Toyota Corolla plunge into the frigid water. “You hear the sound of an accident about to happen, you hear the screeching tires. I looked over my shoulder and, I guess, the car was out of control and it goes in the river backwards,” he said. Defelice said he knew the two young men in the car, who appeared to be teenagers, were in trouble. “I heard ‘We can’t swim.’ All of a sudden the car went under the water,” said Defelice. “So I just jumped in after them.” As it turns out, Defelice wasn’t the only one on hand to help. While in the water he became tired and started struggling, so he alerted a passing bicyclist that he wouldn’t be able to save the other victim. “As soon as I said I couldn’t get the other kid the cyclist, no hesitation, was in the water,” said Defelice. MORE