Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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Tonya Papanikolas Reporting"We started looking a little closer. We seen some more bubbles come up. I say, 'You know what? That's a car.'"
A Utah man didn't hesitate to jump into the ocean where two people were trapped in their car. The man is an aircraft mechanic for the US Navy. He was working on a boat at the Waikiki Yacht Club when he noticed something unusual.
He saw bubbles, but he'd also talked to the driver of the car that night. Earlier, that driver had hit his truck, then he saw that same man hit another car, and told him to go report it. A minute later, when he turned around, the man and his Cadillac were gone.
Look closely under water by the boats and you'll see a car. The driver, 66-year-old Michael McCarthy, was backing up from a yacht club parking lot when he hit two cars and plunged into the ocean. His 16-year-old step-granddaughter was also inside.
Victim: “I’m in a Waikiki yacht club and we're sinking in the car, and I can't open the door. Water's sinking... And I can't open the door. The water....”
911 Operator: “What's your problem?
Victim: “I'm in a car and I can't open the door and the water is coming in and we're sinking.
The teen called 911 as the car went under, frantically trying to get help.
Victim: “No, I don't want to drown!"
911 Operator: "Waikiki yacht club? Okay, we're sending some trucks."
Victim: "Please hurry."
But before emergency crews arrived, West Valley native Larry Cummins, who's a petty officer with the navy, noticed bubbles in the water and realized it was a car.
Larry Cummins: "I took off my shirt and slippers and dropped my phone and stuff and jumped in the water."
That water was dark and murky.
Larry Cummins: "Of course it was pitch black. Couldn't see, might has well have been diving with your eyes closed, couldn't see anything."
But that didn't stop him from trying to save whoever was in the car. Feeling around, he opened one of the car doors and swept the back seat.
Larry Cummins: "I felt something that felt like hair and I just grabbed a hold of it. And once I grabbed a hold of it, I said, 'I'm not letting go, this is somebody that's coming out with me.'"
Cummins had found the girl unconscious. He brought her to the docks where an army nurse gave her CPR. The Utah man says he isn't a hero, but his family disagrees.
Mike Aaron, Larry's Stepfather: "He definitely saved that girl. Without him, I think she would have drowned." Betty Aaron, Larry's Mother: "Makes us proud. We were proud of him anyway, but even prouder now."
Cummins went back in numerous times to try to find the grandfather, but couldn't find him until rescue crews arrived. By then it was too late.
Interestingly, all this happened over the weekend, but Cummins didn't tell his family about it until last night.
