Heroes emerge from rescue of drowning man, 81
Published: September 13, 2006
An 81-year-old Largo man is apparently recovering after spending more than five minutes underwater, trapped in his car Sunday, Sept. 10.
Patrons and employees at the American Legion Post 273 on American Legion Drive recalled that Frank Incaudo, of the Blue Horizon Mobile Home Park, was a regular at the American Legion’s Sunday dances.
Investigators said this week, Incaudo told other attendees that he didn’t feel well and was leaving at about 4 p.m. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reported that Incaudo was seen getting into his car in the parking lot.
As he backed out of his parking space, Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner said, his car struck another one then suddenly lurched over the seawall into about 15 feet of water, a dozen feet from shore.
“I was in the kitchen when someone said to call 911, there was someone in the water,” said kitchen manager Wally Paulauskas of Madeira Beach. “I thought of only one thing, to help get him out of the water.”
Paulauskas said he joined two others, one a band member, who unhesitatingly dove into the murky water and started pounding on the car’s windows. When he reached the driver’s side door, Paulauskas said, he found the window slightly open – enough for him to hold up the driver’s chin as the car slowly settled deeper into the water. He said the man was slumped over in his seat.
“We were all pounding on the windows but they wouldn’t break,” he said. “I hit them so hard I couldn’t believe I didn’t injure my hands. But they wouldn’t break.”
Then, Incaudo’s whole head was under water.
“Just before that I heard him say ‘God, help me.’” With that, Paulauskas said, the car suddenly sank completely. “That’s when all hell broke loose.”
The trunk flew open and the window Paulauskas was reaching through started to close on his arm.
“I don’t know if he panicked and was pushing all the buttons to get out or if it was an electrical thing that made the window close,” Paulauskas said.
Gasping for air, the rescuers swam to the surface and dove back to the car several times.
They tried getting in through the trunk.
“I got the rear panel out but no matter how much I pushed, I couldn’t get the back seat to budge,” Paulauskas said.
When Paulauskas, a recreational diver, returned to the surface again, exhausted, he was met by a firefighter.
“He had some kind of tool in his hand and he said for me to take a rest,” Paulauskas said. “I went ashore to get a rock to break a window in the car. As I turned back to the water, the firefighter was bringing in the driver’s still body.
“I could see that he was breathing and they rushed him to the hospital,” Paulauskas said.
Incaudo was taken to St. Petersburg General Hospital where he was admitted with life-threatening injuries. The submerged car was recovered from the water about two hours after the incident.
A hospital spokeswoman didn’t respond to messages asking for a report on the man’s condition. Paulauskas said he was told that Incaudo had been removed from a respirator and was breathing on his own.
“That’s a good sign, but you never know,” Paulauskas said. “He was under water at least five to seven minutes.”
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