Wild bodycam footage captured the moment a Florida cop was sucked into a storm drain and dragged roughly 100 feet completely submerged Friday after trying to help another man who was pulled under.
“I almost died!” the man shouted after he and the deputy were shot out on the other end of the Pensacola roadway after 30 seconds underwater.
Escambia County Deputy William Hollingsworth was trying to help a motorist stranded by torrential rainfall and flooding cross Route 98 when he watched him disappear under the rough waves, the gripping video shows.
The area had been suffering severe weather and torrential downpours as a series of thunderstorms and tornados swept through the panhandle, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said.
Hollingsworth stepped into the water to rescue the man — identified only as David — when he was dragged into the drainage pipe and swept underneath the four-lane roadway.
Escambia County Deputy William Hollingsworth and the citizen in distress were carried nearly 100 feet underwater beneath a four-lane highway before resurfacing on the other side, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Friday. FOX NewsThe chaotic footage turns black and it’s audio is overpowered by rushing water for roughly 30 seconds — the time Hollingsworth was submerged before being spat out on the other side of the interstate where the drainage pipe had an outlet.
“I got you! Oh man, I got you!” Hollingsworth can be heard saying after resurfacing on the other end of the highway.
The Florida deputy ran toward David, who was lying on the ground in shock.
“David, can you believe what just happened to us?” Hollingsworth said in disbelief. “Oh, my God. Thank you, Jesus.”
After several seconds, David shouts back: “I almost died!”
“It got me too, buddy. It sucked me in,” Hollingsworth responds.
The two dumbfounded men agreed that neither of them had ever held their breath so well “in their life” and embraced in a hug that quickly devolved into tears for David.
Escambia County has been hit with severe weather and torrential downpours, which peaked early Friday morning. FOX News“I’m alive!” David shouted.
Hollingsworth then advised the man to not move from their spot until backup arrived because he didn’t “want to get sucked down again.”
Hollingsworth apologized to David, claiming he felt guilty for advising the man to cross the flood when he was dragged under.
David, however, was only grateful to the deputy for his brave attempt at rescue that put his own life on the line.
“When I came out, you were right there,” he tells Hollingsworth.
Hand-in-hand, the two men then walked back onto the roadway and to safety.
Sheriff Simmons applauded Hollingsworth and said the footage is an example of the “exceptional courage displayed by the men and women of law enforcement every day.”
