Dramatic Dashcam Video Shows Trooper Rushing To Save Trucker On Interstate
Dramatic dashcam video shows Ohio State Highway Patrol Officer Eric Devers rushing to an injured trucker’s side and desperately trying to save his life.
The heroic state trooper didn’t think twice when he saw the semi driver landing at the bottom of a 60-foot embankment along the Ohio highway. The selfless actions shown on the chilling dashcam video earned trooper Devers a Certificate of Recognition for saving the commercial trucker’s life.
“Keep breathing,” Devers says on the dashcam footage and a moment later, he begins counting as he performs chest compressions, desperately screaming “Don’t you die. Don’t you die on me. Come on!”
According to the accounts from the Ohio State Patrol posted to their Facebook page, Devers found the driver, identified as John Depue, in distress when reached him.
“Trooper Devers found the driver belted in the driver’s seat, taking low, gasping breaths with eyelids half closed. After a short amount of time, the driver’s eyes rolled back into his head; he slumped over and quit breathing. A passerby who stopped to assist Trooper Devers kept the driver upright as Trooper Devers performed CPR chest compressions until EMS arrived.
“In total, Trooper Devers was on the scene for 12 minutes prior to medical personnel arriving, at which time the driver began breathing on his own and stabilized. The driver was transported to Wilson Memorial Hospital and made a full recovery. In speaking with the family, medical personnel and witnesses at the scene, it is apparent the quick actions of Trooper Devers helped save the driver’s life.”
The dramatic dashcam video has gone viral, with over 9 million views on Facebook and now, officer Devers is a national hero. On the Fox News morning show Fox and Friends Weekend, Eric Devers reunited — via satellite — with John Depue and they relived the moments in which the trooper saved the man’s life.
“I was able to step up to that truck with him, he was taking very, very little, gasping breaths, hardly like he was alive at all,” Devers told Anna Kooiman. “Our academy is so extensive in its training that at that point my mind just essentially went on autopilot. I just did what I knew I had to do.”
The trooper says he is overwhelmed by the response the dashcam video has received on social media and by how many people have personally thanked him for his heroic actions. As to Depue, who has made a full recovery, words are not adequate to thank his savior.
“How can you say ‘thank you’ for saving your life?” Depue said. “I definitely think he was my angel that day.”
Watch the dramatic dashcam video of trooper Devers amazing rescue.
https://www.facebook.com/OhioStateHighwayPatrol/posts/912286385531797
[Image via Ohio State Patrol]
