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Pregnant woman rescued from sinking car delivers 'miracle' baby
A pregnant woman who was rescued from a sinking car off Interstate 95 in Martin County gave birth to a premature baby girl just hours after the crash.
ORLANDO, Fla. - A pregnant woman who was rescued from a sinking car off Interstate 95 in Martin County gave birth to a premature baby girl just hours after crashing into a retention pond.
A passing driver saw the crash and jumped into the water to help.
‘A man sent from God’
The backstory:
On the morning of Feb. 6, Shedly Apollon was driving to a massage when she started feeling lightheaded. Near the weigh station in Stuart, her vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a pond off Interstate 95.
As it went under, the pressure of the water made it impossible to escape.
"I’m banging on the windows screaming help me," Apollon recalled. "I banged on the windows trying to open the doors, but it couldn’t open because the pressure of the water was just pressing against the door."
Desperate, she called her fiancé, Woodly Sully, a Palm Bay firefighter and used to saving lives but was too far away to reach the woman he loved.
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"Nobody’s really trained for the love of their life to just give you a random call and say they’re in water," said Sully.
As water rushed into the cabin, a stranger saw the accident. Logan Hayes jumped into the frigid pond and swam toward the sinking vehicle.
Shedly Apollon and her newborn daughter, Ivory.
"I’m not the person that would have been able to sit and watch whatever would have played out, played out," Hayes said.
Hayes reached the back passenger door, which was the only part of the car still above water. He coached her to climb into the backseat and towards him.
For the family, Hayes was more than just a bystander.
"He needs to be in the Guinness World Book of Saving," Apollon said. Her fiancé added, "That is a hero, a man sent from God – an angel to come and protect."
How the family's doing now
The rescue was a miracle times two. Just hours after being pulled from the pond and rushed to the hospital, Apollon had an emergency C-section.
"I guess she couldn’t wait to meet us, so here we are," the new mom joked.
Baby Ivory arrived around six weeks early, weighing only three pounds. Despite her wild welcome to the world, she’s gaining strength.
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"Miss Ivory is doing amazing," said Apollon.
"She’s breathing on her own. She’s also holding her own temperature. She’s feeding on a bottle now," said Sully.
When she reaches four pounds, Ivory can go home from the hospital. Her parents say they can’t wait to tell her the story of the "angel" who jumped into a pond to make sure she made it into the world.
"God is still making miracles. God is alive. He answered prayers," said Ivory’s dad.
The Source: This story was written with information from Martin County Fire Rescue when the incident first happened earlier this month. FOX 35 Reporter Esther Bower also spoke with the new parents via zoom on Feb. 16, 2026.