Delisa Haynes (X33) was about to cross the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel last Tuesday morning when her ordinary commute to Newport News Shipbuilding took an unexpected turn.
She watched as another vehicle lost control, drove down an embankment and came to rest upside down in shallow water. Haynes and another driver both pulled over. As the other driver called 911, Haynes headed toward the vehicle – equipped with a hammer in case she had to break a window to get to the driver.
“I ran down, got into the embankment and jumped in the water,” she said. She was able to get to the driver, get his face out of the water and make sure he was conscious. A third driver pulled over and helped Haynes get the driver out of the waterlogged vehicle and onto the bank.
Haynes stayed with the injured driver and waited for help to arrive. She even tried to help contact his family. “Even though he was out of the vehicle, he was hurt,” Haynes said. “I didn’t want him to be by himself until somebody came.”
Once emergency responders arrived on scene, Haynes continued to NNS. “I had a 7 o’clock makeup foreman class. I was soaking wet, but I made it on time,” she said. Haynes was able to change into dry clothes after she got to work.
She said people should always try to help each other.
“People keep asking why I did it. That person is somebody’s somebody. That’s somebody’s child, brother or father, and I would want them to save my somebody or to save me,” she said. “I just think people need to care more and not just see things happen and not care enough to help.”
Haynes also is grateful to the other two motorists who stopped. She doesn’t know them, but she strongly suspects they also were shipbuilders on their way to work.
While she is glad she was able to help, Haynes doesn’t consider her actions to be “a big deal.”
“This should just be people’s mindset, period. The heroic part is to care about a complete stranger,” she said. “You would want someone to help your loved one. If you see something, don’t hurt yourself, but try to help.”
