Vacationing Iowa State players save woman from drowning

Spring break offers college students a chance to unwind, relax, and engage in a party or two, but for a group of Iowa State football players, it offered a chance to be heroes.

Jack Spreen, Anthony Lazard, Josh Jahlas, and Spencer Benton joined former Cyclones Joe Doran and Matt Swoyer on a South Padre Island vacation during the break, where they witnessed a car sinking in Laguna Madre Bay.

Springing immediately into action, the men worked together to pull 22-year-old Luisa Maria Castro to safety, just seconds before her car submerged into the bay.

"That car completely sank in less than a minute, and if not for them jumping into the water and pulling the driver out, she would most certainly have drowned," South Padre Island police officer Michael Schiltz said via Tommy Birch from the Des Moines Register.

The incident occurred on the night of March 16, when Jahlas noticed the car drift into the bay. Lazard, Spreen, and Doran immediately jumped in after the sinking car, but struggled to punch a hole in the window.

"I was getting worried that we were going to watch this girl drown to death, because no matter how hard we were hitting it, it wasn't cracking or spidering for a while," Lazard said.

Finally, with the help of Castro, they were able to create a large enough opening in the windshield to extricate her from the vehicle.

Castro, who was charged with driving while intoxicated, was effusive in her praise for the heroic act.

"I have no words to express how appreciative I am of them," she said. "Even when I messaged them, I still felt that the words or what I was saying to thank them and how grateful I was - it just felt like that wasn't enough."