Trio who pulled man from SUV in pond called heroes
Published: September 25, 2006
While the men who rescued an Albany resident submerged inside his overturned SUV this week off Route 787 might not view themselves as heroes, city Police Chief William Heslin is calling them just that.
According to Cohoes Police, it’s still touch and go for David Ackerman, of Albany, who is fighting for his life at Albany Medical Center Hospital after losing control of his car while heading northbound on Route 787 a little after midnight Thursday.
But Heslin says Ackerman probably wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for the three men who came to his rescue.
“Luckily there were two witnesses behind him and a third came afterwards,” said Heslin. “They broke the window, unbuckled the victim and pulled him out to safety.”
Ackerman apparently lost control of his 1998 Chevy SUV, flipped over near Tibbets Avenue, rolled down a hill and ended up landing upside down in a pond not far from Dyke Avenue.
“He struck a median, sped up and then struck a guard rail, then veered off the right side of the road and went into the pond,” said Heslin, who also said Ackerman was making gurgling sounds after getting pulled out and didn’t look to be in good shape.
One of the men who helped hoist Ackerman out the vehicle didn’t think anything he did should be considered unusual.
“I’m no hero,” said Matthew Isles of Mechanicville. “It was just the right thing to do.”
That’s not exactly how Heslin viewed it when he called the term “hero” a perfect fit for what the trio did to give a man a second chance on life.
“Thank you very much. … You guys got involved and there’s no doubt in my mind that you saved a man’s live,” said Heslin. “You can’t put a value on the quick action they took.”
The two other men were Daniel Desautels of Waterford, and Thomas Mulderry of Stillwater.
Moments before the accident, Mulderry noticed Ackerman’s vehicle inexplicably swerving on the road before disappearing from sight.
“It was as if he was asleep at the wheel,” said Mulderry. “He was weaving, crossing three lanes and hit a barrier, and the next thing I knew he was gone, so we pulled over. … I got my flashlight, and we took off looking for his car.”
Once the group found the vehicle, they didn’t waste much time getting him out.
“I was so pumped up … I smashed the window out with a flashlight, and when we got in, he was upside down, his head was under water, and he was not breathing,” said Mulderry. “I unhooked the seatbelt and pulled him out and then he started breathing.”
Desautels, a volunteer firefighter, said he pulled over after he spotted cars parked on the side of the road and then he noticed the submerged SUV’s headlights shining in the pond.
“If you were at the scene, you would have been amazed, dumbfounded by how he made it out of there alive,” said Desautels. “He was pulled out just in time for the firefighters to come and take over.”
Heslin said the one-car accident is still under investigation. Witnesses say Ackerman was actually driving below the speed limit just before the accident occurred.
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