Heroic Iowa Teen Performs Heart-Pounding Rescue [WATCH]

On Saturday, February 3rd an Iowa student athlete assisted strangers in saving the life of an elderly man after a near deadly accident.

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83 year-old Thomas Lee was driving to a family member's fishing cabin with his dog on Highway 71 in Dickinson County when the unthinkable happened. The Jeep he was driving fell through the ice right below that highway bridge, reports say. 

That's when 17 year-old Joe Salmon sprung into action. The student athlete and four other strangers came together to rescue the man stuck in his vehicle. Their names are; Corey McConnell, Kody Harrelson, Cody Chester, and Chris Parks. Salmon dove in to pull Lee from the water.

First, he was able to pull out Lee's furry friend Cooper. After handing him off to the other men trying to help out, he began to try to free the older gentleman from the car.

The Jeep was slowly reaching the bottom of the lake by the time help arrived. Witnesses were estimating that it was approximately 4 feet deep.

Neither the dog nor the owner were seriously injured from this accident. Lee was transported to the local hospital for further examination. County officials confirmed that the Jeep will be removed from the crash site on Sunday, February 12.

During the rescue, Salmon actually lost his sneakers that he was wearing.

Salmon is on the Okojobi High School Boy's track team, and his teammates put out a social media plea asking Nike to help him replace the pair. The company has yet to get back to the young athlete.

We're hoping that Salmon can get a new pair of sneakers after losing them in that incident!