Three youths have been praised for coming to the aid of a car owner whose vehicle rolled into the Georges River at Oatley boat ramp earlier this month.
Lugarno resident Simon Nadjarian said the youths went all-out to assist the vehicle owner, the police and a tow truck driver to secure a cable to the vehicle to pull it from the river.
"The owner had reversed his boat trailer into the river. As he was unhooking the boat the vehicle started rolling down into the water," Mr Nadjarian said.
"The three youths played an important role in helping to retrieve the car. They had to free dive under the water which was murky and try to hook the cable to the vehicle for the tow truck to pull it out.
"The first time they succeeded in securing the hook but the cable pulled the bull bar off the car.
"So they had to dive again and feel around the wheels of the vehicle to try and see if they could find a better place to secure the hook.
"It was a courageous effort on the part of the three youths. It helped the police, the owner and the tow truck operator."
