Iowa State players rescue woman from drowning

A group of current and former Iowa State players had a rather memorable spring break.

During a March trip to South Padre Island, Texas, Josh Jahlas, a senior linebacker, saw a woman, 22-year-old Luisa Maria Castro, drive off the road and into a canal near Laguna Madre Bay. Jahlas, who was standing on a hotel balcony, called out to his teammates, relaying what he had witnessed. Immediately, according to a story from the Des Moines Register, senior linebacker Jack Spreen, senior linebacker Anthony Lazard and former ISU linebacker Joe Doran took off toward the canal and jumped in.

 

From the Des Moines Register:

The events began to unfold at about 8 p.m. on March 16. That's when Jahlas was standing on a hotel balcony and saw Castro's car go into a canal near the 1700 block of Padre Boulevard. Jahlas, thinking someone was inside, yelled to his friends.

Lazard, Spreen and Doran took off to help. The three jumped into the canal and swam over to the car. Soon they got to Castro, who was trapped in her car and trying to get free. The three fought to break her loose, punching at the vehicle’s front window. She kicked at it. Nothing seemed to work.

“I was getting worried that we were going to watch this girl drown to death, because no matter how hard we were hitting it, it wasn’t cracking or spidering for a while,” Lazard said.

Castro managed to break a small hole in the front windshield, and the three men took it from there. They created a large enough gap to pull her out.

From then, the three helped Castro to shore where Jahlas, sophomore linebacker Spencer Benton and former Cyclones defensive back Matt Swoyer were able to provide further assistance.

There is no dispute from those who witnessed the incident: these men saved Castro’s life.

“That car completely sank in less than a minute and if not for them jumping into the water and pulling the driver out, she would most certainly have drowned,” Michael Schiltz, a witnessing officer, told the Register.

	ISU WOPA @ISUWOPA
This is what a group of heroes look like. Jumped in and saved someone from drowning in their car. God bless. pic.twitter.com/K7AqG64KtQ 7:01 PM - 16 Mar 2016

Castro, who was arrested for driving while intoxicated (police said her BAC was nearly twice the legal limit), expressed her gratitude.

“I have no words to express how appreciative I am of them,” Castro told the Register. “Even when I messaged them, I still felt that the words or what I was saying to them to thank them and how grateful I was — it just felt like that wasn’t enough.

“They really are heroes, and I am forever grateful for what they did.”