Police Dashcam Video Captures Moment Illinois Man Dives Into Moving Car To Save Driver Having Seizure

An Illinois resident, Randy Tompkins, is being dubbed a hero after a police dashcam video captured the moment he dove through the open window of a moving car in a bid to save the driver who was having a seizure, according to NBC Chicago. On Friday, June 2, the 39-year-old was traveling in his black pickup truck when he noticed a dark-colored sedan driving slowly through a stoplight, almost slamming into other cars.

“I saw him come out from behind the traffic, and he almost hit me in my lane,” Tompkins stated. “I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t realize he was having a seizure until he got to the intersection.”

“He [driver] was in danger himself, and he was a danger to others. My adrenaline was pumping, and I just reacted.”

When he realized the driver of the vehicle, whose identity has not been released, was having a medical emergency, without hesitation, the 52-second police dashcam video shows Tompkins reversing his vehicle to avoid hitting the car before hopping out and leaving it parked in the middle of the street.

Tompkins is seen running towards the slow-moving car and diving through the passenger window to help the driver who is believed to be a male. When he was able to put the car in park with his feet hanging out of the window, two officers approached the vehicle and asked “Are you okay” before calling an ambulance.

Emergency medical services were called to the scene, and the driver was transported to KSB Hospital. There is no word on the driver’s condition.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1379231145468614&set=a.111293788929029.9850.100001452249034&type=3&theater

After Tompkins had risked his own life to save a complete stranger who was having a seizure behind the wheel of a car, he turned to Facebook and wrote the following: “Wow, I just saved this guy’s life in the blue car. I jumped in his car; he was having a seizure at the wheel. The cops said they saw me jump in his window like Dukes of Hazzard–it was crazy. I saw him coming at me, so I backed up real fast to the side and jumped out and jumped in his car to stop it. Wow, my adrenaline is still going.”

It was reported that the police officer was able to capture the dramatic rescue on his dashcam because he started following the vehicle after the driver ran a red light and began driving slowly into traffic.

Dixon police said in a statement that “our squad car activated its emergency lights in an attempt to conduct a traffic stop on the car. The car proceeded north at a low rate of speed and began traveling into the oncoming lanes of travel.”

“The driver of the truck could see the driver of the car and observed that something looked medically wrong.”

The statement ended with the Dixon Police thanking the Good Samaritan “for his heroism and for coming to a complete stranger’s aid today!”

Many social media users commended Tompkins’ heroic efforts, saying “Way to go, man” and “You’re an angel. Right place, right time.”

One user wrote: “You are a hero! Great job thinking so quickly on your feet. In an emergency like that, I believe you find out the truth about someone’s character when they have an opportunity to help someone else in need. You are either selfish at the core, or self-sacrificing, and you were clearly the latter. Thanks!”

Hero dives into car of driver having a seizure, puts vehicle in park https://t.co/bzSClgMrUE pic.twitter.com/PUjKmgPnds

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) June 3, 2017

However, others questioned why the Dixon police officer didn’t stop the vehicle himself and tried to help the driver. One Twitter user wrote: “A citizen stops the vehicle while police follow it, waiting for it to hit something. No cops helped until car secured.”

The department responded saying, “Yes, because in the 10 seconds we were behind the car we could see with our x-ray vision the driver was seizing and let him keep driving.”

As a result of Tompkins’ quick-thinking actions, there were no injuries during the incident.

[Featured Image by Randy Tompkins/Facebook]