It’s important to keep a level head in an emergency. So when a mom, who was driving with her two children in the car had a medical emergency, her 12-year-old knew just what to do.

Jonquetta Winbush, 39, had a seizure while driving in West Orange, and her car crashed into a pond. Her son, Dwight Winbush, and her 16-year-old daughter, Bri-Asia, managed to escape the sinking vehicle, but Jonquetta was unconscious and stuck inside. 

Knowing his mom needed help immediately, Dwight ran up the road and managed to flag down West Orange Police Officer Charles Cobb, who miraculously was nearby when the crash happened. 

A bystander tries to rescue Jonquetta Winbush from her sinking car. Photo by West Orange Police Dept./Body Cam

“She’s having a seizure! She’s stuck, she’s in the water! Help her!, Dwight shouted, his desperation caught on the officer’s body cam. Cobb immediately responded, bringing Dwight to the scene in his patrol car.

My nephew was able to swim out of the car to my niece, who then told him to go call for help,” Jonquetta’s sister Bevnisha Holman said.

After realizing he needed something to help break the car window, Cobb races back to his car and gets a window punch, as other bystanders rush into the water to help.

One of those bystanders, Epifanio Munguia, was driving by when he saw what was happening. “I realized that it was happening at that very moment,” he recalled. “I pulled over and I jumped in the water.” Despite their efforts, the car continued to sink deeper into the pond as they tried desperately to break a window.

Bri-Asia Winbush, left, smiles with her mom, Jonquetta Winbush, and brother, Dwight Winbush. Photo courtesy of the family

The rescuers finally managed to break a rear window and eventually opened the car door. “As soon as we were opening the front door, I heard ‘I got her.’ And I felt like I won the lottery,” Munguia said, describing the relief of pulling Jonquetta from the water. However, she was unconscious and had no pulse.

Cobb immediately started performing CPR on Jonquetta, working for several scary minutes until she began to show signs of life. Munguia said he’d never for the moment when “life started coming back into” Jonquetta as her pulse returned.

Jonquetta was rushed to the hospital, where she spent over three weeks on a ventilator. She is now breathing on her own and is expected to make a full recovery. As for the rescuers, West Orange city officials honored Cobb and the bystanders, Corey Bull Munguia, with a life-saving award and a letter of commendation for their bravery. 

Sources: People | New York Post