Restaurant Staff Rescues Couple Who Drove into Water After Getting Confused by GPS Directions

Mar. 15, 2025

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, Sept. 14, employees at Islander 71, a dockside restaurant on Isle of Palms, heard a splash and realized a car had gone into the water, the Isle of Palms Police Department tells PEOPLE.

“A bartender at the restaurant was outside and heard the noise, he jumped the dock fence and dove into the water helping get the couple out of the car which was filling with water,” Sgt. Matt Storen, PIO for the Isle of Palms Police Department, tells PEOPLE.

By the time first responders arrived on scene, the vehicle was already submerged, Storen says.

The couple, who are in their 60s, “fortunately remained calm and thought to roll the windows down as the vehicle hit the water,” he adds, which aided the rescue.

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The couple accidentally drove the vehicle through the marina parking lot, down the boat ramp and into Morgan Creek directly behind the Isle of Palms Marina, he tells PEOPLE.

Those on the scene said Himmelsbach played the role of hero.

General manager Christopher Sollom agreed. “It could have gone a different way,” Sollom toldThe Post and Courier. “Everything aligned for a perfect rescue.”

source: people.com