Woman rescued by mystery man

A woman trapped upside down in a submerged car in Otago Harbour says she was waiting to die, when she was surprised to hear a voice in the back seat.

The voice belonged to a mystery man who had swum to the car to rescue her and who she believes saved her life.

"I knew I didn't have long to go."

Judith McFarlane spent two days in intensive care having her lungs emptied of water after the crash, and yesterday said she wanted to thank her rescuer.

A former Dunedin resident, she is staying with friends in Portobello while visiting from her home in the United Kingdom.

Last Thursday morning, she was driving to the city to meet a friend for coffee, when her car slid on a straight section of Portobello Rd near Glenfalloch and landed upside down in the harbour.

"I was submerged and knocked unconscious.

"I woke up breathing water, but could find no way out of the car and could see only darkness.

"I just sat there waiting because I didn't have long."

Just in time, she heard a voice calling to her through the water, encouraging her to kick hard and push herself through to the back of the car, where "strong arms" pulled her out to the air.

"To this brave young man who jumped into the harbour, and who went into an upside-down unstable submerged vehicle to rescue someone he had never met, you have all my thanks for the gift of the rest of my life."

Ms McFarlane, who is in her 50s, said she was also indebted to the people who stopped and helped pull her on to the road up a steep, rocky bank.

"There were about 10 people who lifted me up the cliff, and they were all in the water in their clothes.

"Isn't that amazing? I'm just so grateful."

She also wanted to thank the women who wrapped her in blankets and coats, the St John ambulance staff - "who cheerfully commented that I was the third person rescued from the harbour that week" - and the staff at Dunedin Hospital.

Constable Lox Kellas, of Portobello, said police had some idea who the man who rescued Ms McFarlane was, but had not been able to reach him.

The road was wet when the woman crashed, but it also appeared there was another slippery substance on the road, possibly diesel, in the spot where the car had slid, he said.