WINSTON, Ga. -- In the devastation of this 2009 flood, Sharon Graham is lucky.

But her story could have quickly gone the other way.

She was driving to work in Winston at 4 a.m. Monday. It was raining and she was watching for water trouble.

What she couldn’t have known then was that Crawfish Creek had swelled some 40 feet. In seconds, it swept her SUV into the floodwaters off Liberty Road. As it was sinking, she had one thought: get out.

She rolled down her windows (yes, the old-fashioned crank kind, and she’s grateful for that), kicked her way up to a tree limb and yelled for help.

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SLIDESHOW: Rescued Woman Searches For Good Samaritan
Rescued Woman Searches For Good Samaritan

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What happened next is a pretty remarkable chain of events that worked out in her favor: over rushing floodwaters, a neighbor heard her screaming. This neighbor called another neighbor, who called another neighbor who happened to have rappelling rope (how lucky is that?).

Once the helpful neighbor with the equipment reached creekside… she found a man ready to jump in to help save Sharon.

This nameless hero swam to get her. However, the dramatic story doesn’t end there. Sharon couldn’t let go of her tree… because she can’t swim and was terrified. The man swam back to the street, found another neighbor with a life jacket, and then jumped back in the raging water to save Sharon. Together, the neighbors pulled both of them to safety with the rappelling rope.

As Sharon tells me this story, she can barely keep from crying.

But there’s a big piece missing here: who is the mystery hero? Who risked his own life to save her? And in dark, rushing water- twice?!

We talked to neighbor after neighbor in the Winston and Villa Rica area, and no one seems to know him. He might be in his 40’s, maybe 50’s. How tall I asked? “Not too tall,” I’m told. One woman stopped on the road to tell us she heard he might have been an off-duty police officer. Maybe. Not sure.

Sharon just wants to thank her good Samaritan. Give him a hug and tell him how grateful she is to be alive.

And as she puts it: “How do you repay someone who saves your life?”

But she would like the chance to try.

**UPDATE**

I have gotten more than a dozen emails naming the rescuer! I just talked with the man who everyone says is the hero: Stacy Tipton.

He lives in the area and said he was driving to work at the time. He said it was a group effort and he did what he hopes anyone in that situation would have done.