Maria Andrade-Vasquez feared she would not survive when floodwaters swept her dialysis transport van into a Port St. Lucie canal Monday. Now recovering at home, she is recounting the rescue as police body-camera video released this week shows how an officer and firefighters helped save her. “Yes, very, very scared,” Andrade-Vasquez said, speaking through her son, Raul Morales, who translated from Spanish.
Andrade-Vasquez was riding home from treatment when the van was swept off the road near Lakehurst Drive in the Swan Park community. Police said Officer Peterson arrived just 100 seconds after being dispatched to reports of a transport van in a canal off Southwest Hogan Street. The video shows Peterson rushing into the water and rescuing the driver before learning that Andrade-Vasquez was still trapped inside. As water surrounded the vehicle, rescuers said, the van tilted into the canal, leaving her trapped in the back.
Police Chief Leo Niemczyk said wheelchair equipment in the van blocked Andrade-Vasquez’s escape. “She's wheelchair bound, so the equipment that came out of the back of the van was up in place blocking her in,” Niemczyk said. “They had to get her out of the wheelchair and pull her up over the equipment to get her out of the van.” Firefighters with St. Lucie County Fire District joined Peterson and worked with him to free her, according to police. Both Andrade-Vasquez and the driver were rescued safely.
Morales said his mother still struggles to understand how rescuers freed her so quickly. “To me it was amazing to see how quick they did what they did,” he said. Andrade-Vasquez, a mother of four, grandmother of 10 and cancer survivor, remains grateful to the first responders who saved her. Morales said she is still processing the trauma of the rescue and plans to continue dialysis treatments three times a week as she recovers at home with her family.