'Everything that we have, we owe to them'

COEUR d'ALENE - When Ronda Lyons heard that her dad rolled his Subaru Outback into Lake Coeur d'Alene on Saturday afternoon, she rushed from her Seattle home to Coeur d'Alene.

"It's awful timing," she said Sunday afternoon. "It's always around Christmas that something goes sideways."

Her dad, Dan Lyons, 66, of Coeur d'Alene, was unconscious when he was rescued from the submerged vehicle. Two witnesses saw the crash and jumped into the water to pull him out. He was transported to Kootenai Health by medical and fire responders and his condition was listed as critical.

But who are these two heroes who saved his life?

"We feel like there was a Christmas angel looking out for us," Ronda said. "Two of them, apparently."

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office responded to the crash and posted a media release of the incident on Facebook, but did not name the witnesses in the report.

"It is very important to my family that these heroes get recognition," Ronda said. "He wouldn't be alive if they hadn't helped."

Ronda said this will be the first time in years that her family will be all together under one roof at her mom and dad's for Christmas. She said her dad, who was still in ICU and sedated Sunday afternoon, just got done decorating the house top to bottom with every possible Christmas light and ornament. She said he suffered a fractured sternum, fractured disc in his back and cracked ribs, but doctors told her they expect a full recovery, although they are concerned about him contracting pneumonia because of the bacteria from the cold lake water getting into his lungs.

Ronda, who grew up in a house near Tony's on the Lake restaurant, said she knows how dangerous Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive can be because she remembers several drivers sliding off the road near her house while she lived there.

"I can't tell you how many cars went off," she said. "It's a scary stretch of road."

She said the family is trying to be patient as her dad recovers in the hospital, but said it is very important to express how thankful they are to the two brave souls who rescued her dad.

"What do you do for somebody who saves your dad's life?" she said, adding that the incident had to be traumatizing for them as well.

Ronda said she would like to give a shout out to all of her friends and family who have been calling and concerned about her dad. But she and her family especially want to thank the mysterious heroes who saved his life.

"Everything that we have, we owe to them," she said.

KCSO Sgt. Will Klinkefus said the investigation is ongoing and information, including the heroes' names, is expected to be released today.