Chronicle carrier's high-water stranding turns into dramatic rescue of infant

Houston Chronicle carrier Edgar Mejia of Conroe got stuck in high water delivering the paper and ended up helping rescue a baby inside another stranded vehicle, May 13, 2015. Houston Chronicle carrier Edgar Mejia of Conroe got stuck in high water delivering the paper and ended up helping rescue a baby inside another stranded vehicle, May 13, 2015. Photo: Courtesy Of Danny Mogollon Photo: Courtesy Of Danny Mogollon Image 1 of / 51 Caption Close Chronicle carrier's high-water stranding turns into dramatic rescue of infant 1 / 51 Back to Gallery

A Houston Chronicle newspaper carrier whose sport utility vehicle got stopped by high water ended up rescuing a baby from a smaller car stuck in the same spot.

The chain of events unfolded about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in the south Conroe subdivision of River Plantation.

Chronicle carrier Edgar Mejia said he had delivered the morning's papers to about half the 300 addresses on his route when his SUV stalled in a flooded dip in River Plantation Drive.

He immediately called his supervisor, Danny Mogollon, and while he was still on the phone, Mejia said a woman in a smaller car also got stuck.

She had come from the opposite direction and was separated from Mejia by an expanse of water but was outside the car, screaming that she needed help.

The woman, Melissa Cartwright, was taking her 3-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son to the home of her sister, Stasie Potts, who said she was scheduled to watch the children for the day.

Cartwright's car rapidly took on water, nearly submerging the baby who was strapped in his car seat in the back, said Potts, who also went to the scene.

"All she could hear was him choking," Potts said of her sister, whose phone was ruined in the incident. "She panicked. She didn't know what to do."

Mejia, who can't swim, quickly went to Cartwright's aid, as she stood outside holding the 3-year-old, Mogollon said.

"He jumped in the car and was trying to get the baby's seatbelt off but he couldn't," Mogollon said. "He told me, 'I have no idea how I did it but somehow I got the baby car seat loose.' That's how he got the baby out."

At that point, Montgomery County sheriff's deputies arrived, along with an ambulance, and the first responders took over the scene, Mogollon said.

"He's a super hero," Potts said of Mejia. "What he did was amazing. He literally saved their lives."

The children were fine but got checked out at the hospital, just to be sure, Potts said.

As for Mejia, he and Mogollon salvaged the newspapers from Mejia's vehicle, and he finished his route in a borrowed car -- all in a day's work for the 10-year Chronicle delivery veteran.