"Can you believe what happened to us?" "Can you f---ing believe what just happened to us?!" exclaimed the deputy after he and an stranded motorist traveled nearly 100 feet underwater -- and all of it was caught on bodycam.

After a terrifying ordeal in a torrential rainstorm that caused massive flooding, a stranded Florida motorist and a deputy were both "lucky" to survive.

Escambia County Sheriff's Office has released footage of Escambia County deputy William Hollingsworth, which was taken during an incident that occurred in the early hours of June 16th.

Hollingsworth can be seen in the video getting out of his car to -- according to the Sheriff's Office -- "approach a civilian who was trapped by these rising waters", along the highway. He was pulled under the water as he entered it. The bodycam footage is black. However, in the video below you can hear muffled sounds that sound like screams and gasps.

Both men were thrown out of the pipe after traveling 100 feet under water from one side to the other of the four-lane highway. They then returned into the floodwater. Hollingsworth yells at the driver after they have just been through what they experienced.

Can you believe what happened to us?" You okay bud? "Can you believe what happened to us?" The deputy exclaimed. "Just breathe. Thank you Jesus, Oh my God! "Oh Jesus."

Hollingsworth added: "I've never felt this breathless in my entire life." The driver replied, "Me either!"

The deputy radioed help and said they would "stay put" so as to not get "sucked again." Hollingsworth then told the backup that he had been "sucked into the drain pipe, and I went under highway 98, and was spit out."

The driver is seen thanking the officer who tried to help him and rushed over to ensure he was OK after the ordeal. The driver told the deputy that he and he were both going to remember this experience forever.

In a post on Facebook about the incident, Sheriff's Office explained that the area experienced "severe rain and severe weather" in the days before Friday.

"During the rescue effort, both the citizen as well as Deputy Hollingsworth got sucked in a drainage pipe. They were swept under the four-lane highway of Hwy 98. "They were submerged in water for about 30 seconds, and traveled almost 100 feet under the surface," they said. They eventually surfaced at the other end of road - lucky to still be alive.

The video and Hollingsworth’s rescue attempt were described as "an example" of the courage that law enforcement officers display every day.

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Title: Harrowing Video Shows Deputy Get 'Sucked In the F--king Drain Pipe' During Flood Rescue
Sourced From: www.toofab.com/2023/06/19/florida-deputy-swept-into-drain-during-flood/
Published Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2023 16:52:51 +0000

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