HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hendersonville resident Savannah Connell said she was spending a normal Friday night at home when she heard a loud noise outside.
"Well, this isn't the first time that somebody has crashed into the pond," she said. "This is probably the fourth or fifth time since we've lived there in two years."
A car crashed into the pond outside her Monthaven Park apartment.
"We arrived within two and a half minutes and began to take action with the scene that we had," said Hendersonville Fire Chief Scotty Bush.
When Hendersonville firefighters arrived, they found a car underwater. Good Samaritans had already jumped in to help a male passenger.
"We got there and a gentleman and his son were already in the water," said Bush. "The son was already out with a dog that had perished and then the gentleman was back in the water trying to assist in getting the gentleman out of the car."
Firefighters then dove in to rescue a female passenger.
Bush estimates the water was about 40 degrees that night.
"We talk in the business all the time that no days are the same, and that's so very true," he said.
Firefighters pulled the female out of the car and began CPR. Her name was Destiny Vanwinkle.
"If you know my mom then you have to know that I mean she's a great person," said Vanwinkle's daughter Desarain Starks.
The man survived, but Vanwinkle died shortly after.
Through her tragedy, Starks finds comfort in knowing her mother's last few moments were not spent alone. She said she's thankful for the firefighters that pulled her mother out of the water.
"I wasn't obviously able to be there, and I'm glad that someone was that knew what they were doing and could work on her, and that's something that you just can't pay anybody back for," she said.
Starks also thanked the Good Samaritans who tried to help, including a man she said was named Tony Israel.
Chief Bush said some days have good outcomes and others don't. But he knows no matter what, his firefighters are still making a difference in the lives of those they touch.
"They're very special to me, all of my folks are, and they do a great job for our organization and for our city, and for all of them to be in the public eye like that, they deserve that," said Bush.
Hendersonville Police, Sumner County EMS and Nashville firefighters also responded to the scene.
