A quick-thinking kayaker has saved the lives of a family of five after their SUV veered off a cliff and ended up in a Northern California river right before his eyes.
The family was driving along Highway 50 near the Sierra Nevada community of Kyburz on Thursday afternoon when their SUV suddenly went off the road.
It hit a concrete mile marker, a large tree, a boulder and then went plunging into the American River.
Crash: The SUV reportedly flipped at least once before landing in the American River with a family of five inside
Hero: Mark Devittorio, a real estate agent by trade who enjoys kayaking in his free time, witnessed the SUV falling from the cliff and rushed over to help
Mark Devittorio, a real estate agent by trade who enjoys kayaking in his free time, witnessed the SUV falling from the cliff and rushed over to help.
He said that if the accident had happened moments earlier, he might have been killed.
Mr Devittorio told KCRA-TV: 'It's fortuitous that they didn’t actually land on me. I was kayaking right there moments before they plunged off this cliff and landed right there in the river.'
He was able to get three children out of the SUV and get them to shore.
When Mr Devittorio went back to the SUV, he found the driver with his head partly underwater and the man's wife helping to hold his head up.
'He wanted to live,' Mr Devittorio said of the man. 'He wanted to be with his family.'
Mangled: The two adults in the SUV were rescued after fire officials cut the roof off the vehicle
Scary situation: Mr Devittorio said that after he got the children to safety, he went back to the SUV and found the driver with his head partly underwater and the man's wife trying to hold his head up
As luck would have it, a El Dorado County Fire Department truck was in the area, with a team trained for water rescues.
The truck was able to get to the area in three minutes, and were able to stabilize the driver and get him and his wife out of the vehicle.
Mike Pott, the department’s fire marshal, told KCRA: 'We actually used a life jacket to put underneath his head and shoulders to hold his head up out of the water while we were cutting the roof off.'
The driver, Christian Lemler, 50, of Livermore, suffered moderate to major injuries, said California Highway Patrol Sgt Mike Poor.
With the cause of the crash still under investigation, it had not been determined how fast the SUV was going when it crashed into the river.
Right place, right time: Mr Devittorio points to the area where the SUV fell as he was kayaking nearby
Wreck: The firetruck was able to get to the area in three minutes, and were able to stabilize the driver and get him and his wife out of the vehicle
It was raining at the time, but it was not known if the weather contributed to the crash.
The other family members suffered only bumps and bruises, officials said.
'All the circumstances came together,' Pott said. 'Several things came together to help save this family.'
The two adults and the two teens were wearing seatbelts, while the child was strapped into a car seat, Pott said.
'If they didn't have their seatbelts on I'm sure they would have all been ejected,' he said.
The accident took place in rural El Dorado County, about 75 miles northeast of Sacramento.
Brush with death: Mr Devittorio says that if the crash happened moments earlier, the car may have landed on him
