Florida Deputy Sucked Into Storm Drain Trying To Rescue Stranded Driver: According to the sheriff, a deputy in Escambia County, Florida, came close to drowning after being swept into a drainage pipe while attempting to rescue a trapped driver.
On Friday, June 16, Deputy William Hollingsworth was on patrol, assisting stranded motorists who were caught in rapidly rising waters caused by severe and torrential downpours.
Deputy Hollingsworth informed dispatch of his location and his intention to aid a driver before stepping out of his patrol car and wading through the floodwaters. Within seconds, his body camera captured the driver being pulled underwater. In an effort to save the individual, Deputy Hollingsworth lunged forward and was also swept beneath the water’s surface.
Both the deputy and the driver were sucked into a drainage pipe, carried beneath a four-lane road, submerged for approximately 30 seconds, and propelled nearly 100 feet before being expelled on the opposite side of the roadway.
The body camera footage recorded Deputy Hollingsworth exclaiming, “Can you believe what just happened to us!? Just breathe, buddy.”
“Lord, thank you, Jesus!” the deputy shouted.
“I almost died,” the driver struggled to utter while lying on a soaked patch of grass.
“I almost died too,” Deputy Hollingsworth admitted. “I’ve never held my breath like that in my entire life.”
“Oh my god,” the driver cried. “Oh my god. Oh my god. I’m alive!”
Later in the video, Deputy Hollingsworth recounted the incident to another deputy.
“He [the driver] goes down. I go in after him. I got sucked into the f—ing drain pipe. Right by that marker. And I went all the way under Highway 98 and got spit out.”
Emergency responders at the scene called for an ambulance to attend to the driver. Prior to receiving medical attention, the driver expressed gratitude towards the deputy.
“Me and you, man,” the driver said. “That was an experience of my life.”
In a Facebook post by the sheriff’s office, the sheriff referred to this incident as “an example of the exceptional courage displayed by the men and women of law enforcement every day.”
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