Driver mistakes gas pedal for brakes, 3 people rescue her from pool

An elderly woman mistakenly hit the gas pedal instead of the brakes, ending up in a pool at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

It happened Monday morning around 7:30 according to police, only ten minutes before the pool was going to be open to guests.

"There's no damage to the edge of the pool, so she jumped at least 15 feet from the edge of the embankment into the pool," explained Timothy Ives with the Colorado Springs Police Department

The 72-year-old woman was driving from the country club when she first hit a car, drove up the hill and went airborne through a fence, finally landing in the pool, say officers. They estimate the car was going 50 to 60 miles per hour.

Police say three bystanders jumped into the pool to help get the woman out. She was taken to the hospital, but has no serious injuries and was able to talk with officers once they arrived.

"We flew down the stairs," said Corey Youso, one of the people that jumped in to save the woman. "The passenger side window was rolled down. I jumped through the window. She was stuck, she couldn't get her seat belt undone, so I unbuckled her seat belt and started coaxing her to home through to my side."

If it wasn't for the trio of people that jumped in to help, the woman may not have made it out of the car.

"Another gentleman had opened up the backdoor to try and get her out," recalled Youso. "At that time the vehicle just started to flood. I grabbed her, pulled her out the window, got her outside the pool but it was in an instant the car was submerged under water.

The driver will be cited for careless driving and was released from the hospital at about noon.

The vehicle was removed at about 5 p.m. A video of the removal can be seen below.