"I turned around to get a shot of the alligator, and I saw a car under the water and a woman on top,” he recalled.
A South Florida realtor was paramotoring above a canal when he spotted an alligator in the water. Christiano Piquet was recording his flight like he usually does everyday Sunday morning before going to church but this time was different. He spotted an alligator splashing in the water north of Homestead at around 8 a.m. "I turned around to get a shot of the alligator, and I saw a car under the water," Piquet told The Miami Herald. “I flew closer to the car and I saw a woman on top.”
Paraglider Spots Alligator from the Sky, Then Discovers Woman Stranded on the Roof of Submerged Car https://t.co/m6v91rGmiB
— People (@people) November 2, 2022
The woman could be heard pleading for help in the video. The paramotoring 40-year-old decided to make an emergency landing. "In that moment, I think God told me, 'my friend, land and save that one life,'" Piquet told NBC Miami. Once he descended, Piquet ran towards her and called out for help. "We landed between power lines, uneven terrain," Piquet said. "It was a terrible landing situation. And for some reason, I was calm, and I landed." It is not clear how the woman's vehicle ended up in the water. "Oh my God!" the woman can be heard shouting in the video. "I fell with my car in here." The woman was in shock but was helped out by another good samaritan. A man who lived near the canal helped pull the woman to safety with a rope according to NBC News. Piquet’s camera captured the moment the woman was hugging the resident that pulled her in by the rope and saved her life.
The woman was taken out safely from the water while the vehicle remained submerged in the canal when police arrived at the scene shortly after 8:30 a.m. A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesperson told PEOPLE, "A MDFR diver conducted a search around the submerged vehicle to make sure no one else was submerged." The spokesperson added that they responded to "the scene of a traffic accident." The woman was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, but her identity has not been released. Piquet who has been paramotoring since 2015 said he was just glad to be at the right place at the right time. "God cares about her life because he put me in that moment, that perfect moment, on that day," he told NBC Miami.“Maybe I would have flown somewhere else.”
References:
https://people.com/human-interest/paraglider-spots-alligator-discovers-woman-stranded-car/
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article268070622.html
Cover Image Source: Instagram | @cristianopiquet
