Son: Mother Is 'Fighting For Her Life' After Being Pulled From Canal Near Hard Rock Stadium

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The son of a woman who was pulled from a car after it plunged into a canal near the Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday said she's fighting for her life.

"Right now she's not doing well. I understand she was underwater for five to 10 minutes. She is in a coma and she is fighting for her life," Rodly Lormestoire told CBS4's Peter D'Oench in an exclusive interview.

"I know that she was in the water for at least five minutes because one captain came to see me and said to the best of his knowledge it was at least five minutes or so because they had to wait a little bit," he said. "They were not able to go ahead right away and open the door because there was too much pressure on the door, so they had to wait a little bit to crack the window because if they cracked the window right away more water would have come in and it would have been even worse."

"It took about 10 to 12 minutes after they got her to get her pulse back. She is not only in a coma but is not responding too well," he added.

Lormestoire said his 69-year-old mother, Gladysse Paul, survived an accident that could've easily taken her life."

"Last night I called out her name to try to speak to her. She is really in a lot of distress, I care so much for her, she is all I have," he said. "I was calling out her name in her hospital room and I could see was trying to force her eyes open and she was squeezing my hand. She is under distress and I just don't know. Only time will tell when they can give me my mom back. That's all I got you know. People who know me know my mom and know that she is my best friend. She is my best friend. Even though I was in the military for years, when it is close to you, it is close to you and it is hard to take."

Paul, a retired nurse from Miramar, was pulled from the water by several Florida Highway Patrol troopers and police officers who had been at the stadium for the Miami Dolphins.

"I want to thank all of the people and all the troopers who helpEDmy mom," said Lormestoire.

Right after the game, Paul was heading south on NW 27th Avenue when she hit two vehicles and went through a chain link fence before ending up in the canal.

"I do not know what happened to her when she was driving, I know that she did not feel well. I don't know what happened with the other vehicles, she means the world to me and now she's fighting for her life," said Lormestoire.

"This is not like her and especially when she was going south on 27th Avenue and she knew there was a game going on," he added. "This is just unfortunate. I hope that she didn't hurt anybody else."

Lormestoire has been at her bedside at Aventura Hospital since receiving word of the accident.

She's also had another visitor. FHP Corporal Rudy Regis, who helped save her life, stopped by to see how she was doing on Monday.

Regis and Lt. Luis Darcia were joined in the rescue by Miami-Dade Police Officer J. Childress, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue diver, a parking attendant and two civilians.

Darcia said they were able to use a window punch hammer to break the windows.

"This is why you become a police officer," he said, "to help those in need."

"I thought I had to get that person out of the vehicle. That was my driving mechanism. Maybe this is a calling for me. I never planned to become a police officer. But I did and you move on," said Regis.

Lormestoire had originally reported his mother as a missing person until authorities told him that she had been rescued.