ESCONDIDO — An Escondido police detective and his wife were honored last month with lifesaving awards for their heroic actions last Christmas Eve after they rescued an unconscious man from a submerged vehicle.
After dropping off family members in Menifee, Escondido detective Mike Nelson and his wife Janet, a trauma nurse, were driving home at night when they noticed unusual activity on the roadway: a shirtless man running around a parked car on the shoulder.
What looked like a possible road rage incident quickly turned into a much more serious situation when the Nelsons noticed the wheels of a vehicle sticking out of a roadside culvert. The couple pulled over to investigate and quickly realized the overturned car was partially submerged in water.
According to the Nelsons, the shirtless man said he’d been trying to free the unconscious driver by using a rock to try and cut the seatbelt but had been unsuccessful.
Mike Nelson, armed with a pocket knife, entered the cold water and began the difficult task of cutting the seatbelt to free the driver in the dark.
“I noticed his feet were stuck between the windshield and dashboard as he was face down,” Mike Nelson said.
Mike carefully maneuvered the man’s body to extricate him from the vehicle. Janet, watching from the embankment with a better vantage point, also played a critical role in the rescue, coaching her husband to open the door wider to pull the man out.
As the rescue unfolded, the man on the scene, who believed the driver was dead, eventually gave up and left the scene. Before leaving, the man reportedly urged Mike to stop his efforts, saying it was useless to continue trying to save him.
“That was not going to happen,” Mike said.
Despite the odds, Mike pulled the man up the embankment to safety, where Janet was waiting to assist. The driver showed no signs of life — his skin pale and his pulse absent.
“He was lifeless,” Mike said.
Drawing on their medical training, the couple began performing CPR. A minute later, the driver began coughing up water and breathing again.
Emergency responders soon arrived, stabilizing the victim and transporting him to the hospital. Remarkably, he made a full recovery and was discharged two weeks later.
While the Nelsons never met the man again, they have taken solace in knowing their efforts saved his life.
“Him being alive is good enough for me,” Mike said.
The rescue drew widespread recognition. Menifee Police contacted Escondido Police Chief Ed Varso to alert him of the Nelsons’ heroic actions. The city of Escondido later presented Mike with a lifesaving medal and Janet Nelson with a lifesaving commendation.
“I was really stoked that they recognized my wife, too,” Mike said. “She doesn’t think she did much, but when you have a calm voice with a broader view of the situation telling you to think of this or that, like getting the door open more, it helped me to stay focused.”
In October, Mike was also awarded the American Red Cross Good Samaritan Hero Award. The award’s motto, “Ordinary People. Extraordinary Courage,” reflects the bravery and tenacity the Nelsons demonstrated that night.
“We were honored to be recognized but also very humbled,” Mike said. “We give the glory to God who gave us the opportunity to save another person.”
The couple, both devout in their faith, believe they were in the right place at the right time for a reason.
