Editorial: Four special men keep woman from drowning in lake

Although they didn’t seek the spotlight, we think the men who saved a woman’s life deserve our thanks.
Last Friday, at about noon, a woman in her 70s, who had a recent surgery, was sitting in the passenger seat of a Chevrolet Equinox when her grandson got out of the vehicle. They were at Sandy’s Marina on Belleville Lake and somehow the vehicle was not in park and slipped into the lake, head-first.
Kevin Gillespie and Shawn McKelvey raced down the dock to help the woman and were able to grab her arm and hold her above the water until they were almost out of strength. The car was pressed to the dock and had turned so the passenger window was against the dock.
Then, Van Buren Township fire fighters Ken Floro and Daniel Walter arrived and helped the two pull her out of the window. She is a large woman and it wasn’t easy.
None of the rescuers got wet, said VBT Public Safety Director Greg Laurain, who also arrived at the scene. The VBT dive team did get in the water to help secure some straps so J&T Towing could lift the car from the lake. The car had floated at first and then sank. Some docks were destroyed.
It took a lot of teamwork to save a life and we applaud all those who were there and willing to do what it took. Although there were aerial videos shown on television news, no one named the heroes. Now we can thank them by name.