HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- As floodwaters rose in Hanover County Friday morning, two men spotted a pickup truck almost fully submerged along Greenwood Road.
Mike Adams and Eddie Akins used an aluminum v-bottom boat when they spotted the red pickup near where the Chickahominy River usually flows about five feet under the bridge.
"I said, ‘It might be somebody still in there,’” Akins said. “So we had to, of course, check it out."
Chris Balut, who watched the rescue unfold, said Hanover County experienced an “almost historic rain event last night."
The pair rowed out to the truck, which had stalled in the flood waters.
As they got closer, they spotted the man inside. The vehicle’s windows were rolled up, which was a major concern.
"Once the battery goes dead, you're not going to be able to get that window down and so much force on the door, you can't get the door open,” Adams explained.
Men rescue 85-year-old
The pair convinced the man to lower the window, but getting the 85-year-old out was a challenge.
"So I got him to lay the seat down, so that he could push off the dash and get back and then get his legs in the passenger side and then head out the door," Adams said.
While Adams worked with the man, who he said had a bad knee, Akins dealt with the boat.
"Tied the front of the boat to his tool box and then I came around and re-tied the tail end, so I could pull it upside the truck and hold it there, so when he laid his body pressure on one side, it wouldn't capsize.”
After several minutes and the waters continuing to rise, they got him out.
"They actually saved his life, hadn't been for them he'd probably still be in that truck [and] had a heart attack or stroke or something," Ben Adams said.
However, the men were humble about their achievement.
"I just was trying to help somebody in need,” Akins said. “I would hope somebody would do the same for me.”
"They are remarkable. They're heroes,” Ben Adams said.
The driver told CBS 6 senior reporter Wayne Covil he was thankful for the men who rescued him.
Firefighters said he refused to go to the hospital.
