INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Deputies are crediting an alert Amazon driver with helping them to rescue three people who were trapped in a car that flipped upside down in a Florida canal.
The Indian River Sheriff’s Office shared video of the rescue on its Facebook page, and said Deputy Dan Whittington was on his way to an unrelated call when he looked over and saw a partially submerged vehicle upside down in a canal.
“I happened to be passing by here, responding to another call, and I saw (a) guy pointing to the ditch, and I saw the bottom of the car,” Whittington told WPTV.
The video, from Whittington’s body camera, shows an Amazon driver in a distinctive blue vest already at the scene helping a woman out of the door of the flipped car. Deputies did not identify the driver, who they said went into the canal to assist.
Deputies said three people were pulled from the car, and two women are recovering with minor injuries.
“I was actually kind of shocked to see the car upside down,” Whittington told WPTV. “I think I was put there for a reason and just there at the right time, and I’m glad we were able to get all three of them out of the car.”
Deputies told WPTV that an elderly couple and their caretaker were in the vehicle.
“If we hadn’t gotten there, he would’ve definitely drowned because he was ready to give up,” Whittington told the station. “It’s one of those moments that you hope never happens, but you train for it. When it happens, you hope to react the way you’re supposed to react, and I’m just glad I reacted the way I should’ve reacted.”
The deputy told WPTV that despite saving the lives of the people trapped in the car, he doesn’t consider himself a hero.
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