LAKE COUNTY, Fla.-- "There's a car that just went overboard into the water at Howey-in-the-Hills."
There was one call after another to 911 in Lake County.
"A car has gone over the edge of the bridge."
"Some one or some thing fell over the bridge."
People called in with urgency and astonishment.
Troopers say 35-year-old Nicole Bankston told them she swerved to miss something in the road, hit a curb, overcorrected and went across the other lane through the highway 19 bridge barrier. Both the DOT and the Lake County Sheriff's Office provided photos of the barrier which will have to be replaced.
"We've got somebody who went off the bridge in a car and she's stuck and going down, We're encouraging her not to give up," said a 911 caller.
"You can't get out? Okay," said another.
Eventually, she did get herself out and luckily-- in the area-- there were workers building a new bridge to cross Lake Harris.
Those workers were right there with a boat to assist in the rescue.
The last maneuver was getting the badly damaged car out of the lake.
Mission accomplished.
The driver went to the hospital for treatment but is expected to be okay.
