Carpenter saves duo trapped in sinking car

K EN T V ILLE , N.S. • At first, Richard Kirk couldn’t hear the screams.

The wind was howling, and rain battered the Nova Scotia carpenter’s face as he looked down at a vehicle that had gone off a slippery Annapolis Valley road last Friday night and into a watery ditch.

Then he heard Alex Pineo and Cassidy Jones, frightened and shouting for help. They were trapped, the frigid water entering their battered car as they struggled to open the jammed doors.

He said he didn’t even think about it — he just acted reflexively to help.

“I hollered. I threw a piece of ice at the side of the car so they knew I was there,” he said, adding he then called 911.

“I j ust j umped in t he water, put my feet against the bank and shouted, ‘ I’ ll get you out. Just hold on.’ ”

“I put my back against the door and gave it a rock and I was able to get the driver’s side rear door open.”

The 33-year-old came forward this week after Pineo put out a social media appeal for help finding his rescuer.

The couple had managed to escape the vehicle, but in the confusion the pair didn’t get Kirk’s name or telephone number as rescue vehicles arrived.

Eventually, Pineo’s appeal produced an answer: Their saviour was this unassuming carpenter from Hall’s Harbour. Pineo was unavailable for an interview Wednesday, but said in an email: “We’ve found the man who helped us and we’ve thanked him.”

Kirk insisted Wednesday it was hardly any trouble: “My boots were wet, and I had wet feet. I work outside all winter. A little bit of wet feet, that happens on a regular basis.”

Kirk’s aunt, Sheila Tanner, said in an interview her nephew is a low- key fellow, and she’s not surprised he’s downplaying his actions.

“He’s agent le, kindhearted soul ,” she said.