An officer with the Tuskegee University Police Department rescued a woman whose car crashed into a lake early Sunday morning.
According to WSFA-TV, the woman was unresponsive in her car stranded in the middle of the Tuskegee Lake.
Sergeant Jeffrey McKinstry had reportedly been fishing in that part of the lake the week before and knew that the water wasn't deep, but he feared that the woman might eventually slump over and submerge beneath the surface of the water in the vehicle.
McKinstry decided to dive in and extract her from the car in advance of the arrival of the rescue boat.
"I've never had any training in this, but I can swim so I just used my gut instinct to go out there and do what I swore to do," McKinstry said. "I forced the door open and got her to come out and walk to the bank with me and that is where the fire department took over."
On Monday, TU Police Chief Patrick Mardis presented the Meritorious Service Award to McKinstry.