Video shows dramatic rescue after car drives into water

HOUSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard held a ceremony to recognize a man who dove into the Houston Ship Channel to save a driver whose car went into the water.

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Surveillance video released by the U.S. Coast Guard during the ceremony shows a car driving off the Lynchburg Ferry landing and into the channel. In a news release, USCG said that Roger Moore, who witnessed the vehicle go into the water, jumped into the water, and saved the driver’s life.

Moore had been out to eat with his family on Dec. 31, 2021, when the incident happened, KTRK reported.

“All of a sudden, this car literally drives off the ferry landing, and it was like a movie,” Karen Moore, Roger’s wife, told KRTK.

The video shows Moore jumping into the water and swimming to the sinking car. He initially tried to get into the car through the open trunk but couldn’t do so when the car turned nearly vertical in the water, USCG said. As the car continued to sink, Moore was able to get the driver to roll down his window and pull him to safety.

“Receiving this award means there was success in what I needed to do,” Moore said in a statement. “I’m relieved (the driver) had the chance to come out of that dire situation, and that I was not harmed in the process, especially with my family there.”

The Moore family had been out celebrating New Year’s Eve with their neighbors, who used their shirts as a rope to help fish the men out of the water, KTRK reported. After saving the driver’s life, the families bought some dry clothes at a gas station and continued their evening.

“Hearing him actually talk about it in front of all these people — it was just really cool,” Moore’s daughter, Ellen, told KTRK.

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