CARMEL, Ind. — A Zionsville man was hailed as a hero after he dove into a chilly retention pond to save an injured woman Monday.

According to Carmel Fire Chief Bruce Knott, Lorraine M. Holland was driving west on Weston Point Drive in Carmel shortly before 10 a.m. when her car veered off the road, hit a tree and went into a retention pond on the north side of the intersection with Michigan Road.

Fred Robbins, 36, Zionsville, was taking his daughter Audrey, 2, to her doctor’s office when Carmel resident Toni Sheehy flagged him down. Sheehy pointed to the pond, where Robbins saw the vehicle’s trunk sticking out of the water.

“I ran out and immediately jumped into the water,” said Robbins, who spent much of his youth as a lifeguard. "I couldn’t get the door open because of the force of the water.

“I kept thinking, ’That’s someone’s child, someone’s family member in there.’ I had to get them out.”

When Robbins came up for air, Sheehy handed him a softball-sized rock, which he used to break out the back windshield. Holland floated to the surface, and Robbins feared the worse.

“Her face was blue, and she appeared asphyxiated,” he said. "But as I was swimming her back to the shore, I could hear her wheezing.

“When I got to the shore, we laid her on her side and the water poured out of her, and after a bit, her color started coming back.”

Robbins prepared to go in again to see whether anyone else was in the car, but Holland told emergency crews she was alone.

Holland was taken by ambulance to Clarian North Hospital. Investigators took a blood sample from her there, but Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Vicky Dunbar said it was too early to tell whether drugs or alcohol might have been factors in the crash.

Several emergency workers shook Robbins’ hand and offered thanks.

“I didn’t do anything they don’t do on a daily basis,” Robbins said.

Knott praised Robbins’ quick thinking and bravery but warned that the situation easily could have turned out differently.

“You’ve got to take your own safety into account before responding in a situation like this,” Knott said.