Haldimand County man saves stranger who drove into the water at Hamilton Harbour

WARNING: This story contains distressing details

A 78-year-old man almost drowned after he drove down the boat launch at Bayfront Park around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. 

Shawn MacNeil and Wes Kassem were fishing at Bayfront Park when they noticed the man's white car half-submerged in the water.

Hamilton police say MacNeil, who jumped in to rescue the man, is "a brave citizen" who "made every effort to rescue the driver", and that the driver was "taken to hospital in non-life threatening condition".

"We never really fish that spot," Kassem told CBC Hamilton.

"Honestly, that was a fishing trip I will never forget," MacNeil said.

Kassem said he didn't see the car drive down the boat launch, but he heard from others at the scene that the driver hit a curb and lost control of the car. 

Kassem recorded what followed on his cell phone.

In the video Kassem recorded, it took just over a minute for the interior of the car to become fully submerged. The driver managed to get his door open, but it is unclear why he was unable to leave the vehicle. 

In less than two minutes, Kassem and MacNeil realized one of them would have to pull the man out. 

"Just seeing the air bubbles, we were like, 'Yeah, this guy is going to die right in front of us'," Kassem told CBC Hamilton. 

In the video, a panicked MacNeil said, "Someone's gotta go in. Oh my God, he's going to die," before stripping down to his long johns and jumping into the water. 

MacNeil said when he realized he had to rescue the man, his first thought was to make sure he had dry clothes to put on after, and to try to make it to the car in one jump. 

"I thought I might make it, but I did not," he said.