An 81-year-old man was backing out of his driveway on River St Macksville around 11am on Saturday when his foot became caught under the brake pedal.

“He’s put his foot on the accelerator in a panic and gone backwards into the river, hit the rocks, his car’s spun around and started to slip out further into the river,” Fire and Rescue captain David Brunsdon said.

A neighbour saw the accident occur and quickly dived into the river to get the man out of his car and pull him to safety.

Thankfully, the male driver wasn’t injured.

The quick-thinking neighbour then tied a rope to the car to stop it floating further out while emergency services arrived.

Macksville Fire and Rescue, police and ambulance arrived on the scene a little after quarter past.

Jason Didio from the firies’ crew lent into the water to attach a chain to the car’s towbar before his crewmates secured the other end to a nearby tree.

A tow truck operator was then called.

There were initial fears that the fuel sump might be compromised once the car started to be pulled up onto the rocks.

So, being Fathers’ Day weekend, Jason called his dad, Tony, who responded with tinnie in tow.

The Didios are no strangers to the odd marine adventure; their Didio’s Country 2 Coast Fishing page has tens of thousands of followers all keen to see what they catch next. 

But it’s not every day they land themselves a Toyota Grande.

The pair secured a hydrocarbon absorbent boom around the perimeter of the vehicle to soak up any fuel spillage, before Luke Pell pulled the sedan out with his towtruck.

“Once he worked out how to get it out, it didn’t take long at all,” captain Brunsdon said.

All in a day’s work.

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