A FedEx driver is being hailed a hero after he jumped into the freezing Truckee River to save a woman who had crashed her car.
Brandon Alt said he was just getting started on his delivery route near Truckee on Monday.
It was snowing - and he noticed the car in front of him was weaving and then suddenly veered off the road - and went right into the Truckee River.
"I felt obligated I was the only one on the road that saw the accident I had to do something."
Alt pulled over, put on his hazard lights, slid down the embankment then trudged through the icy water to get to the sinking car.
According to police, the driver of the car told them she had been distracted by her phone.
"She looked down at her phone to make a phone call," said California Highway Patrol Trooper Seth Jennings.
Authorities say she started to sing 'Happy Birthday' to a relative but she never finished the song.
When she looked up, the car was heading down the embankment.
"I knocked on her door. She turns around and says 'please help me.'"
When Alt finally got the backdoor open, "water rushed into the vehicle and I told her 'you're going to have to crawl back if you can.'"
Police called Alt's actions "heroic and out of the norm."
As for Alt, he doesn't see himself as a hero.
He says he was just in the right place at the right time.
"I would just hope and expect anybody in that situation to do the same."
The woman suffered minor injuries.
