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Good Samaritan, off-duty firefighter help save driver in sinking car

By
Published  January 17, 2025 9:54pm PST
Lake Stevens
FOX 13 Seattle

Good Samaritan saves driver from Lake Stevens

A wrong turn in the dark along with poor visibility Thursday led to an elderly woman driving down a boat ramp and into Lake Stevens and having to be rescued.

The Brief

    • A wrong turn in the dark along with poor visibility led to an elderly woman driving down a boat ramp and into Lake Stevens, having to be rescued.
    • Good Samaritan Matt Loverink saw the car, and immediately jumped into the 40 degree water.
    • Rescue swimmers along with Loverink worked to secure the car and free the driver.

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. - A wrong turn in the dark along with poor visibility Thursday led to an elderly woman driving down a boat ramp and into Lake Stevens, and having to be rescued.

What we know:

According to officials, Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue was dispatched shortly after 8 p.m. for a report of a vehicle sinking in Lake Stevens with a driver trapped inside.

A good Samaritan saw the car, and immediately jumped into the 40 degree water — cold enough to quickly incapacitate someone, fire officials say.

"I did hesitate at first," said Matt Loverink.

Loverink has been identified as the Good Samaritan who was first on scene and dove into the water.

"I’m just happy that I was here to help," Loverink told FOX 13 Friday. "She was doing her best to get out of the vehicle. She got her windows down. I told her, ‘Ma’am you’ve got to get out of the vehicle right now.’"

The car was about 100 feet from the shore and sinking when firefighters arrived.

Off-duty firefighter and rescue swimmer Alex Fatkin was at home when he saw the call come through, Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue said on social media.

Fatkin had his wetsuit and snorkel gear on him. Less than a minute from the scene, he rushed to the boat launch and entered the water.

"This was my first water call," Fatkin told FOX 13. "When I showed up, the car was floating about 30 or 40 feet off the dock and about 100 feet away from the shore, so I ran down the dock."

Rescue swimmers along with Loverink worked to secure the car and free the driver. 

"If the Good Samaritan wasn’t there, I believe the driver would not have been able to get out of the car themselves," said Peter Mongillo, a spokesperson for Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue.

Firefighters transported the driver to a local hospital to be treated for cold water exposure. Firefighters also treated Loverink for cold water exposure on the scene.

"I’m just glad we were able to get her out safely," said Loverink. "And that’s what we did."

As for the cause of the accident, investigators said dark and foggy conditions contributed to the driver going off the road.

This was the third vehicle found in Lake Stevens in the past year, Mongillo said.

The Source: Information for this story is from Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue and Good Samaritan Matt Loverink.

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