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Police, Good Samaritans save mom in a submerged car: 'Amazing' to see her 'life come back'
By Madeline Coggins
Published August 17, 2024
A Texas woman is alive thanks to her children's quick-thinking and the rapid response from Good Samaritans and the West Orange police.
After suffering a medical incident while driving last month, Jonquetta Winbush drove her car into a pond, leaving only the back bumper visible.
While driving through southeast Texas city, Epifanio Munguia noticed the vehicle and jumped into action to assist a police officer running into the water.
"I [saw] a vehicle in the water, and I thought, I didn't really think it happened at that moment. I thought a wrecker was going to come and get the car out. And then I saw an officer running to the water, and I realized it had just happened," Munguia said on "Fox & Friends First" Friday.
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"So I started praying, ‘Lord, give me strength, make me fast, make me strong, give me wisdom.’ And so I pulled over, and I ran in the water and immediately started trying to crack that window in the back."
West Orange police said Winbush suffered a seizure while behind the wheel, causing her to pass out with her foot on the gas pedal. Winbush's two children were also in the car when she drove into the water.
Dwight Winbush, 12, and his 16-year-old sister were able to get out of the car, and Dwight rushed to a nearby patrolman, Charles Cobb.
"She’s having a seizure! She’s sunk! She’s in the water, help her!" a terrified Dwight told Cobb, who quickly took off for the vehicle.
Munguia and another Good Samaritan, Corey Bull, followed behind the officer to help pull Jonquetta out of the sinking car.
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"I jumped in the water, and immediately the car began to sink. I took a quick breath. I was trying to get in there and get a hold of Jonquetta, and I couldn't get a hold of the seatbelt to unbuckle it," Munguia said.
After coming back up for air, Munguia said he heard one of the men shouting "We've got her!'
"I felt like I had just won the lottery when that happened," he said. "It was a great feeling."
Epifanio Munguia joined a West Orange police officer and another Good Samaritan in rescuing a Texas mom from a submerged car. (West Orange Police Dept./TMX)
Officer Cobb immediately performed CPR, and soon afterward, emergency services were able to respond to keep Jonquetta stable.
Jonquetta was sent to the ICU and remains in intensive care.
"I'm so very grateful," Jonquetta's sister Bevnisha Holman told host Todd Piro. "I can't help but just express how grateful I am that the kids were there with her, first of all, because they both were so brave. And I love that my nephew Dwight was able to take direction from his sister to go and flag down some help."
"I'm very grateful that it was on Epifanio's heart to just stop and assist, because this could have been a totally different story. I'm so grateful."
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