Special to the Lake Okeechobee News
OKEECHOBEE — Brett Holden pulled two people from a car that was upside down in a ditch on Sunday night, March 1.

OKEECHOBEE — After a long day at work Sunday, Brett Holden did not expect to find himself pulling two people out of a wrecked car in the dark, but that’s what happened.

It was close to 9 p.m., and Mr. Holden was driving home on the Peavine Trail out on the Prairie when a woman waved him down frantically. He stopped to see if she was OK, and she told him someone had flipped a car over in the ditch. He pulled over to see if he could tell whether the people were conscious.

The white Chevy Silverado was upside down in the ditch and a man and woman were in the front seat, he said. They were conscious, so he told them to get back as best they could so he could break the window with a tire iron.

He had to wade through the water to get to them and managed to bust the window out. Neither of them was able to move their legs, so he dragged them through the weeds and water to get them up out of the ditch and closer to the road.

Mr. Holden, who recently turned 21, has a little first aid training, he said, but added that mainly, he just did what anyone would have done. Both of the people seemed to have concussions and did not seem to be coherent, so he just tried to keep them comfortable until three deputies arrived and were able to take over while they waited for an ambulance.

“I’m just glad I was there to help them out,” said Mr. Holden. I was just doing what I thought I should.”