Woman, 81, was trapped in a partially submerged VW Golf for hours

An 81-year-old woman spent hours in the water early Thursday at the Higel Marine Park near Venice, Fla., and it wasn’t some re-creation of her teenage night swimming years. She was trapped in her partially submerged Volkswagen Golf before a passing kayaker discovered her in the morning and helped initiate a successful rescue mission.

According to video footage released by the Venice Police Department, the woman seemingly drove into the water at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. She told officials she had made a wrong turn onto the boat ramp, and by the time she realized what was happening, the car slid down the ramp’s slippery moss-covered surface and into the water. 

Luckily, the car did not dive completely underwater, and there remained an extremely small pocket of air for the woman to breathe. She survived on that air bubble until she was able to flag down the kayaker in the morning. The kayaker and a paddleboarder then pulled her from the passenger-side window and waited for emergency responders to take her to the hospital.

The woman is reportedly in stable condition. Read more at NBC News.