A woman trapped in her car during her commute to work as Hurricane Ian approached and the first responders who rescued her will feature again Saturday on national TV.
The episode features Susan Lewis, of Naples, as well as Naples Fire Lt. Bill Warren, Driver-Engineer Matt Dahn and Chief Phil Pennington.
ABC’s “Hearts of Heroes,” which aired Nov. 17, 2023, will run 11 a.m. Saturday.
“I was hearing that it wasn’t so bad, but it was very windy,” Lewis said during her interview on the show. “And when I left for work, I called my office and I said, ‘How is it over there?'”
Lewis said her office told her they were good, so she began driving.
“At the last minute the storm changed paths and it hit more into the North Fort Myers area,” Dahn said on the show.
When she made a right-hand turn, Lewis said, the storm surge was heading in her direction.
It hit her car, causing her dashboard to light up. Her doors locked and her trunk blew open, she told the show.
Lewis called 911, but the severity of the storm affected what vehicles first responders could use, Pennington said.
Eventually, because of the high winds and the risk they pose for elevated trucks, they responded using a smaller brush truck.
Brush trucks can get into areas that normal vehicles can’t get into, Warren said on ABC.
The water had gotten up to Lewis’ chest by the time firefighters arrived. Dahn said it was at the 6-foot mark.
Co-host Sheldon Yellen says Susan Lewis’ story puts viewers on Hurricane Ian frontline
Sheldon Yellen, “Hearts of Heroes” co-host and chief executive officer at BELFOR, on Thursday said Lewis’ story helps viewers understand the magnitude of what happened.
Hurricane Ian struck Southwest Florida as a near-Category 5 storm Sept. 28, 2022.
“These firemen heroically drove into danger, knowing the danger was working,” Yellen said. “And they just reacted without hesitation to save a life. There was a clear example here of the heroics of these first responders.”
Yellen said they found out about Lewis’ story “from a couple of different avenues.”
Additionally, Yellen said they learned of Lewis’ rescue from other first responders nationwide that heard about it.
“Hearing about this story from two different sources got our attention, obviously,” Yellen said.
Yellen said Lewis’ is the type of story “that you as a viewer, if you were just listening to the narrative and not seeing the actual television show, you could visualize this in your mind.”
He said it’s easy to visualize somebody being stuck in their car and the electrical system crashing, preventing them from exiting the car as water slowly fills up inside.
“It was at your ankles. Now all of a sudden it’s up to your waist, and it’s getting higher and higher,” Yellen said “[The] fire department [is] on the way; you could visualize this story.”
Yellen described Lewis’ experience as “a great heroic rescue with a great outcome.”
Yellen later added that the ability to be present on Florida’s west coast and to film “with the effects of the storm and everything just made it real.”
What was Sheldon Yellen’s takeaway?
“I think the takeaway, and I would argue repeatedly, is for people to listen to the authorities during any catastrophe … during any storm … during any emergency,” Yellen said.
He said that in Hurricane Ian’s case everybody thought the storm was headed further north than it did.
“When that storm took a little right-hand turn and wound up going where it wound up there in the Naples and Fort Myers area, people weren’t ready for it because they were saying, ‘Oh, it’s nothing,'” Yellen said.
This wasn’t Sheldon Yellen’s first Hurricane Ian narrative
Yellen said the show did another story focused on a helicopter rescue as a result of the storm.
“There’s a whole community of people that have had heroic rescues made on their behalf,” Yellen said. “And so the stories get passed around and along and, obviously with the TV show ‘Hearts of ‘Heroes,’ we constantly get information on stories that are out there.”
As for the Naples and Fort Myers areas, Yellen said there were “so many heroic acts performed by our first responders that the community should be proud [of].”
Yellen said the individuals that have been rescued have had an opportunity to thank the heroes that “were on the spot to make a difference.”
“It was really gratifying for those people. It was gratifying for us to be a part of documenting some of that,” Yellen said. “Some of that thank-you stuff that was going around was really gratifying to see and be a part of.”
Formed bonds don’t end after episodes air, Sheldon Yellen says
“We have lots of examples where we’ve shot a story, the story has aired [and] we stayed in touch with the first responders and those that have been saved,” Yellen said.
Yellen said one story they filmed in Florida led them the following year to a first responder’s relative’s rescue 2,000 miles away.
“We filmed with some heroic first responders in South Florida, and one of the first responders’ sons wound up in an emergency situation out in Arizona,” Yellen said.
Yellen said the firefighter’s son an ATV accident in a mineshaft in Arizona.
He added the original first responder shared the story.
Yellen said networked, documented and filmed that story.
“We flew the firefighter and his wife from Florida to Arizona,” Yellen said. “I was able to introduce them to the firefighters that rescued their own son. So [the] firefighter’s son got rescued by his fellow firefighters 2,000 miles away, and we were able to be there and have this reunion.”
Sheldon Yellen: Future in first responder career
“There are real career opportunities there,” Yellen said of first responders. “Grab it … hold on to it … be part of it. Embrace it, and you will realize a camaraderie that lasts a lifetime.”
Yellen said he feels grateful for first responders like Warren, Dahn and Pennington.
“I want them all to know how grateful I am and how grateful I am, and ‘Hearts of Heroes’ are for their commitments … for their families … commitments to sharing those heroic first responders with all of us who may one day find ourselves in it.”
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.