Mark Seabolt didn't hesitate.
When the Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy learned from neighbors that a woman was trapped in the vehicle that had plunged into an icy creek, he jumped in.
“I really can’t tell you what ran through my head or why I got in the water, it’s just my main concern was for her safety,” Seabolt said. “When I found out there was somebody still in the car, that changed the whole ballgame.”
Seabolt and Sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Yarbrough tended to 41-year-old Sandy Callis of Gainesville until firefighters could arrive.
A spokeswoman for North Fulton Hospital said Callis remained in stable condition Thursday at the Roswell facility.
Callis was taken there Tuesday after the Forsyth County firefighters rescued her from the creek in northeastern Forsyth where she had crashed.
Her 2005 Buick LaCrosse was upside down in the water, said Fire Capt. Jason Shivers. The conditions made for a challenging rescue.
The accident happened about 4 p.m. when Callis, who was traveling alone, reportedly swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle that had crossed into her lane of Keith Bridge Road.
A sheriff's report said the Buick's wheels slid on the ice and snow-covered shoulder near Cantrell Circle, causing the vehicle to overturn and slide into the creek.
Seabolt said Yarbrough helped him open Callis’s passenger side door and he went in.
She was being held up in the waist-deep water by her seatbelt and part of her face was submerged. Seabolt held her head up.
“She was alert and a little emotional, but she was hanging in there,” he said.
Seabolt said he asked Callis questions in an attempt to gather information and get her mind off the situation.
“That was definitely a first for me,” he said. “I’ve been to other car wrecks before with people still inside, but not with all the conditions.
"The cold and the snow - it was more demanding, that’s for sure.”
Seabolt wasn't sure how long he was in the water, but commended Yarbrough and the fire department for their “outstanding job” in the rescue.