Martial arts instructor Mike Ziniak couldn’t see the young woman trapped inside a car after it went through a guardrail and into the Little River near 231 Oxford Road Thursday night.
Ziniak, 41, could only see the top of a 2006 Chevy Cobalt and could only hear 22-year-old driver Rachel Cassidy crying out for help. The rain was pouring, making visibility even worse.
“It was like something you would see in a movie; it was insane,” Ziniak said. “I got a better view when the taillights came up, but they quickly disappeared under a bridge because the car was floating like a raft.”
Ziniak, wearing cargo jeans and a T-shirt, ran down the hill and plunged into the river. He waded through water for about 12 feet to reach Cassidy. He asked if she had any children in the car, which she did not; she was the only person in the car.
“She could barely talk, she was so shaken up,” he recalls.
The water was above waist level and Cassidy was up to her neck in water as she tried to get out of the car. She had blood on her face and complained of neck and back pain. Ziniak told her to grab around his neck and squeeze tight. Ziniak’s friend and neighbor, Pat McQuade, jumped in the water to help. He grabbed Cassidy by the ankles, while Ziniak carried her “like a child” in his arms in front of him, Ziniak said.
“We were walking against the current and trying to get to the edge,” he said.
That is when Resident State Trooper Sgt. Dan Semosky ran toward the edge, reached out and took Cassidy from Ziniak's arms. Oxford Ambulance brought her to the hospital where she was treated for minor injuries. Firefighters removed the car from the water (see photos above).
“The police were on scene almost immediately,” Ziniak said. “The emergency services did a great job.”
The next day, Ziniak saw Cassidy, who lives in Oxford, and her father standing near the crash site. Ziniak left his martial arts studio on Route 67 and walked over to talk to them.
“I introduced myself to her dad,” he said. “I can’t even explain the emotion. He was so touched and grateful that someone would help his daughter.”
Ziniak, a single father of a 10-year-old boy, said he only hopes someone would do the same for his child.
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