A split-second decision during a recent storm in Houston led Robert Chance to save a man's life, marking the second time in seven years he has performed a water rescue.
On Tuesday, May 28, Robert Chance, his girlfriend Renee Young, and her daughter were driving through Spring, north of Houston, when torrential rain flooded the area. According to CBS affiliate KHOU-TV and ABC affiliate KVUE-TV, the family noticed a truck partially submerged in a drainage ditch.
“The first thing he said he wanted to do was check if someone was in there,” Young told KHOU. “He was just ready to jump over the edge, he's not thinking, he's just going, it's primal."
Chance, who works in construction, quickly grabbed a hammer from his truck. When he saw someone inside the vehicle, he used it to break the windshield.
A video recorded by Young and her daughter, shared online by the outlets, shows Chance atop the truck’s hood, striking the windshield while floodwaters rapidly surrounded the vehicle.
“How do you get him out?” Young asked in the video before passing her phone to her daughter, who continued to document the rescue.
They then called 911 for help as they continued their efforts to save the man inside the truck, identified as Jeff Jones by Fox affiliate KRIV-TV.
Eventually, Chance managed to break a passenger window and pulled Jones to safety.
Jones, now recovering from the incident, has some bruising and a cut on his hand from the broken glass. "The rest of the scars are inside, and that's going to take a while to heal,” he told KRIV about the traumatic experience.
This brave rescue is not Chance's first. He previously saved a woman from a flooded vehicle in Pasadena following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, according to KHOU.
"I see somebody in need, especially in this dire of need, I just jump in and go straight for it," he told the outlet. “If it happened again today, hands down, I’d jump in and do it even if it was worse … no questions asked."
Robert Chance's heroism highlights the everyday bravery found in ordinary people. His swift actions not only saved a life but also serve as a compelling reminder of the difference one individual can make in a moment of crisis.