By Allison Manning
The Columbus Dispatch
DELAWARE, Ohio — Without the help of a few good Samaritans yesterday, a cabdriver who wound up at the bottom of a pond might have drowned.
Christopher Frentsos, 51, was driving west on W. William Street about 11:25 a.m. when he turned into the oncoming lane of traffic at Carson Farms Boulevard and lurched into the pond, which is down a 4-foot embankment from the road.
Amanda Mechling, 29, was pulling out of her Carson Farms neighborhood when she saw Frentsos convulsing in the driver’s seat and the cab moving slowly.
Mechling, a nurse, called 911 thinking she was dealing with a medical emergency. Then the cab turned into the water and began sinking.
Three other motorists stopped and jumped into the pond to pull Frentsos out of the car, which was submerged, Mechling said. Frentsos was underwater for about two minutes before the men were able to pull him up.
Mechling said she was about to administer CPR when Frentsos began coughing and vomiting.
But he wasn’t able to speak and appeared dazed, she said.
Frentsos, who works for the Delaware Cab Co., was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware and then flown to Grant Medical Center, where he was in intensive care in serious condition yesterday.
Mechling told emergency workers that she did not think Frentsos had passengers, but divers were sent into the pond to make sure, Delaware Fire Chief John Donahue said.
The man-made pond, part of the Meadows at Carson Farms neighborhood, is just off W. William Street, which is also Rt. 36/Marysville Road.
Delaware Police Capt. Bruce Pijanowski said Frentsos suffered some
sort of medical problem that caused him to lose control of the car. Because of that, Pijanowski said, he doubts Frentsos will be cited.
“I think the big story is how many people jumped in to assist him,” Pijanowski said. “That’s a huge piece of why this ended as well as it did. Without good Samaritans, this could have been a lot worse.”
Mechling was happy that she was able to alert others to the man in distress.
“If people hadn’t seen me stop and look down (at the pond), they wouldn’t have stopped,” she said.
“The car just disappeared into that water. Nobody would have known.”
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