City workers honored for saving man after he drove into a canal full of water

AMMON — It was a day Joseph Shaw and Joshua Hart will never forget.

The Ammon Public Works crew was wrapping up for the day on July 19 and headed back to the shop when cars near 17th Street and 45th East began pulling over.

“We saw a little commotion and we thought it was just a rear-end collision,” Hart recalls. “We got up there and we realized that a car was in the canal.”

A man was inside the car and he wasn’t moving. Shaw and Hart realized he needed help.

“We both kind of just looked at each other and knew what we were going to do,” Shaw says.

Without thinking, Shaw and Hart jumped in the canal. They noticed the car was filling up with water and the vehicle was moving a little bit.

“With the current and the water, it went sideways and then it started filling up pretty good,” Hart says.

The two yelled to someone on shore to throw them a hammer that they used to break the back window. The duo then crawled through the vehicle and dragged the man out.

At that point, two other men had jumped in the water to help and EMTs had arrived. The victim was placed into an ambulance and Shaw and Hart headed home.

A few weeks later, the two were honored by the Ammon Mayor and City Council. Then, on Thursday, the American Red Cross of Greater Idaho named them one of 11 “East Idaho Real Heroes” during a luncheon at the Waterfront at Snake River Landing in Idaho Falls.

They say it’s nice to be recognized but don’t call themselves heroes.

“It was just the right thing to do,” Hart says. “It didn’t seem like a big ordeal.”

Shaw adds, “I didn’t think I did anything that special.”