Boy, Uncle Rescued From Flooded Ditch

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. - Good Samaritans sprang into action in Fort Washington, Montgomery County when people got stuck in rushing water.

It all began when a 4-year-old boy and his uncle tried to cross an area where rising flood waters were hiding a ditch, reported Fox 29's Julie Kim. They didn't know deep it was or how dangerous it would be.

Pennsylvania Avenue looked like an extension of the Wissahickon Creek Sunday, swollen and moving fast. So fast that motorists were stranded and their cars quickly underwater.

“We started seeing cars get submerged in water. There’s a car over here that was submerged, we helped them get out, and it was panic everywhere,” says witness Nania Sparks.

Nathaniel Wood, a volunteer for Fort Washington Fire Company, says he was trying to get to his station to report for duty, but he couldn't get through the roads.

“I was a little bummed because I couldn’t get through to get to the fire station. And I was just kinda bummed that they’re all going on calls and I'm just sitting here," recounts Wood.

It turns out he was in the right place at the right time.

"I heard screaming from this general direction and I started running over and some lady was yelling, ‘He’s in, he’s under,'" Wood tells Fox 29.

A man and his 4-year-old nephew fell into a ditch. The water was turbulent and sucked both under. Wood jumped in after them.

“I was holding on to the cement, the top of the cement with one hand, with my right hand. And I was trying to feel around. The water was all the way to the top of the road and I was trying to feel around with my left hand and I felt a hand under there," says Wood.

”The current was so strong that other guys came in, were holding my right hand so I didn’t slip under. And I was hoping the guys up top would hold onto my arms and they did," continues Wood.

Wood and the man he went in to rescue were eventually pulled from the ditch by other helping hands, as was the little boy.

Rescuers say they were both conscious. The two were rushed to the hospital where they're being held overnight for observation. The man was initially complaining of chest pains, but he is expected to recover.

"It's unbelievable. I'm just hoping everything goes well and they're okay tomorrow morning. God was on their side today," says family friend Huey Moore.

Local fire crews say they responded to at least three dozern water rescues Sunday.