Politics put aside for rescue of couple plunged into a canal

Instead of reversing, the driver pressed down on the gas and the vehicle propelled forward. It took down part of the fence and flew over the edge, plunging into the water with a loud splash.

That’s when both parties had to come together to save the couple.

“I looked over and you could see something going through the trees,” Alan Lane said, after he heard the commotion. “I dropped the sign as fast as I could, got the flip flops off.”

Lane said the car started to fill up with water. With the help of nearby voters, he put politics aside and rescued the people trapped.

“You don’t really have time,” Lane said. “There’s no partisan in politics when drownings involved.”

He said one man from the opposite party jumped in to rescue the driver.

“The democrat on the right side,” he said, “and a republican on the left side.”

Lane went after the female passenger.

“I had my feet up against the door,” Lane said. “As the waters rising, I could lay back in the water. I laid back in the water and said, ‘lean back.’ She grabbed my arm and we both kind of just glided out of the car and swam.”

And within seconds, they were swimming to the bank for safety.

“When they got up the hill,” Lane said, “I handed him the mirror and said, ‘here’s your car, here’s the rest of your car.'”