A man wonders what he could have done differently to save a woman after an ATV crash in The Hammocks. NBC6’s Julia Bagg reports.
Surveillance video shows the moments a woman was pulled from a canal by divers in The Hammocks following an ATV crash on Thursday.
Miami-Dade Police officials said two women were riding an ATV along the canal bank when they lost control and crashed in the area of Southwest 112th Street and Southwest 157th Avenue.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
WATCH HEREOne woman was able to get out of the canal on her own, but Miami-Dade Fire Rescue divers responded and jumped into the water to search for the other woman.
When Dennis Padilla and his son Mikael spotted trouble, they grabbed a ladder and a life jacket and raced toward the canal behind their home.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP
"My son and I, we were in the kitchen. We actually heard somebody actually screaming," Padilla said. "We actually see fire rescue was already on the other side, but he's walking. This lady's in the canal yelling 'I can't swim, I can't swim!'"
The firefighter jumped in the swift-moving water and reached a woman who was going downstream.
The Padillas secured a ladder against the bank to help her climb out. That woman made it out safely, but then the father and son learned she was not alone.
Local
"She kept screaming, 'My cousin, my cousin!' and we're like, 'What cousin?'" Padilla said. "She goes, 'There's somebody else in the water, my cousin. I couldn't hold on to her.'"
Then, Mikael Padilla spotted a helmet floating downstream and jumped in, but he could not find anyone.
It was about 30 minutes later, Padilla said, when paramedics pulled the second woman from the water.
Video shows first responders hoisting her up the ladder and onto the grassy embankment, where they perform CPR.
She was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in critical condition, and later died from her injuries, police said.
"It's tough," Padilla said, visibly emotional. He said the cousins are from New York, just like him.
"Apparently they were not good swimmers, so you figure, OK, I'm on dirt, nothing's gonna happen to me, and the next thing you know you're in the water," Padilla said. "How do you explain that to your family back home? You know, we went to Florida for vacation and now you gotta call back home and say, 'Sorry, but my cousin passed away.'"
Padilla said it's not the first time he's seen a person or animal fall into the canal, so he keeps a ladder at the ready in case it happens again.
Officials haven't released the identities of the women or any other information on the incident.
