83-year-old man stuck under golf cart saved by 2 Waste Management workers

An 83-year-old man was stuck under a golf cart for hours, calling for help for hours until Waste Management was on their normal route and saved him.

Two men are getting called heroes after they saved him.

When WINK News told Alex Galarza that he is a hero, he began to tear up and couldn’t talk.

“No… no… not a hero,” Halarza said.

“I just did what a human being should have done,” Galarza said.

But Galarza and his best friend Paulino Ortega are worthy of praise.

They’re Waste Management drivers in Charlotte County, and on Monday, they saved a man’s life.

“It was approximately 5:30 in the morning. We had just completed Palmetto Ridge Court and which is in Riverwood Community. And once we turn, took a drag turn on Long Lake Lane. Paulino had noticed somebody waving at him. It was the first house on the left. And he stopped immediately stopped him honk the horn. He says, ‘Alex, it looks like there’s somebody over there that needs our help.’ So I went around and looked, and there was an older gentleman. He was caught underneath the golf cart. He was all soaking wet,” Galarza said.

And showing signs of hypothermia, the 83-year-old man told them he got stuck under the golf cart more than seven hours earlier.

While they don’t know how, the pair is glad they were in the right place at the right time.

“I’ve been doing this 4 1/2 years. Paulino has been doing it for 15,” Galarza said. “We get a lot of satisfaction out of doing what we do.”

And they did it together the same way they do just about everything else.

“We help each other Paulino has, you know, his English is not great, so I help him. And he helps some in other ways. Here, we are a team. We help each other,” Galarza said.

While they may shy away from being called heroes, that’s exactly what they are.