MARION COUNTY, Fla. — What began as a routine drive on her birthday turned into a day Shedly Appolon says she will never forget.
Appolon, who turned 29 on Friday, survived a car crash into a lake on Interstate 95 in Martin County, was rescued by a passing motorist and later that day gave birth to her first child — a baby girl.
Appolon held her daughter, Ivory, for the first time Monday.
“Feeling her breath come in and out and having her hands touch me and feeling her heartbeat — it was surreal,” Appolon said.
She called the experience a miracle.
Appolon said she was driving Friday morning on I-95 when she began to feel dizzy, lost control of her vehicle and drove into a pond.
She immediately called her fiancé, Woodly Sully.
“She said, ‘I’m in the water,’” Sully said. “I paused and I’m like, ‘You in the what? Did you get into an accident?’”
The call then disconnected.
The car began sinking front first, trapping Appolon inside.
“I tried to open my driver’s side door and my passenger door, but they were both submerged in water so I couldn’t get out,” she said. “I started feeling water on my feet, so I started to panic a little.”
That’s when Good Samaritan Logan Hayes swam about 40 feet to the vehicle, opened a rear door and pulled Appolon to safety.
“When he swung that door open, I was like, ‘You are an angel,’” Appolon said.
Paramedics rushed Appolon to HCA Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, where doctors performed an emergency cesarean section. Sully was present when their daughter was born seven weeks early, weighing 3 pounds, 14 ounces.
“Hearing that first cry after she came out was the most beautiful thing ever,” Sully said.
Dr. David Rubay, the hospital’s trauma medical director, said Appolon was fortunate.
“She’s very lucky. She’s blessed,” Rubay said. “She lost the car, but she has a baby.”
Appolon said she looks forward to one day sharing the story with her daughter, who now shares her birthday.
“We can share this with her one day and I can laugh with her,” she said. “And now that we share a birthday, our bond is tighter than ever.”
Appolon said she hopes to be released from the hospital Tuesday. Ivory is expected to remain hospitalized for the next few weeks because of her size.
Appolon said she cannot wait to hold her daughter outside of the hospital.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
