Updated - adds video - Police Constable Paul Cassar found the courage to push himself and dive a few metres deeper to rescue a woman trapped in a sinking car, only because he knew his work partner was close by.
There were moments when I thought: What if something happens to me?
“The woman was about one-and-a-half storeys beneath the surface. Although my colleague could not dive all the way down with me, because his breath did not allow him, his presence was very important. I knew he was there and that he was looking out for me. I don’t think I would have pushed myself that extra bit if he wasn’t there,” Mr Cassar, 38, told Times of Malta.
Mr Cassar and his partner PC Clayton Frendo, 29, were the two police officers who jumped into the sea to help rescue the 29-year-old woman whose car ended up in the sea at the Ta’ Xbiex marina on May 4.
The woman is still in a critical condition at Mater Dei Hospital’s intensive care unit where she is on a life support machine.
Three weeks after the accident the two officers, who have been work partners for three years, recounted how they struggled with the murky water and the depth.
That day they were on the 5am shift at the Sliema police station. At about 6.55am they received a phone call informing them that a car had ended up in the sea and someone might be inside. When they arrived at the marina there was a crowd standing on the quay and a man, who later turned out to be the woman’s boyfriend, was crying and being consoled on shore.
The two officers immediately jumped into the sea. “We looked at each other and we both knew just what we had to do. When I started taking off my shirt and looked at my colleague he had already had the car jack in his hand,” Mr Cassar said.
Mr Frendo, added: “The car was already underwater. We didn’t know if we’d find any of the windows open, so I took the jack in case”.
The water was very cold, apart from being murky. The two officers tried diving but visibility was poor.
“I expected to find the car just beneath me but it had drifted out, about the length of a yacht,” Mr Cassar said.
Mr Cassar, who could hold his breath for a longer period than his colleague, attempted several deeper dives while Mr Frendo stayed close by. “I started diving. I couldn’t see but I could feel the car. There was a window open on the passenger side but I didn’t feel anything inside.” .
After about three attempts he called out for a dive mask and was supplied with one by people onboard a nearby yacht.
“I went back down, this time on the driver’s side, and saw that the door was closed as was the window. After a few more attempts I managed to open the door and saw the woman inside but I could not go in since I was out of breath,” he said.
When he resurfaced he saw a man, wearing a wetsuit, on a speedboat and the two officers called out to him.
The diver, who was carrying an air cylinder, was able to enter the car and pull the woman out. He then went back on his speedboat and Mr Cassar and Mr Frendo took the woman ashore. She was then taken to hospital.
When the two constables climbed out of the water they were given sheets to deal with the cold. They then went home to shower and change and headed back to work until their shift ended at 1pm.
Mr Cassar said: “There were moments when I thought: ‘What if something happens to me?’ and thought of my family and friends… but I would do it again,” he said, as his partner nodded in agreement.