WYOMING COUNTY/Quick thinking first responders save Perry man’s life after he drove off the road into a pond

SUBMITTED PHOTO/Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office

On February 28, 2018, at approximately 6:51p.m., multiple agencies responded to Route 20A in the Town of Perry for the report of an occupied vehicle that had gone off the road into a pond and was submerging.

Among the first to respond at the scene were Deputy John Button of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office and First Lieutenant Dakota Spink of the Perry Fire Department. Upon arrival, Deputy Button and First Lieutenant Spink noticed that the vehicle was imminently submerging while floating in the middle of the pond. The driver, George L. Reed, 82, of Perry, was submerged in water above his neckline while entrapped inside the vehicle.

Deputy John Button and First Lieutenant Dakota Spink then bravely entered the cold water and attached a tow rope to a rear tire on the vehicle. The tow rope was then attached to a fire truck and Reed’s vehicle was pulled to the edge of the pond.

Members of Perry Fire Department and Perry Center Fire Department were then able to extricate Reed from his vehicle.

Reed was transported to the Wyoming County Community Hospital for minor injuries and was later released. The cause of the accident was determined to be a reaction to another uninvolved vehicle.

The Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office, Perry Police Department, Perry Fire Department, Perry Center Fire Department, Medic 80, Warsaw Ambulance, Wyoming County Emergency Management, DMR Towing from Cowlesville, NY, and Ott’s Collision from Warsaw, NY. responded to the scene.