FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A mother and a young child are recovering after they were rescued from a partially submerged vehicle involved in a crash.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, two deputies responded to the crash on Friday, Jan. 5, along the 12500 block of State Road 100.
As the deputies arrived, they found a car in a ditch filled with water. A dazed man was located outside, along with a woman and small child trapped inside the vehicle just above the water.
Body camera video captured the rescue as first responders reached the crash victims.
“She’s above the water, is the baby above the water?” a deputy said in the video. “The baby’s breathing freely. Let’s get the baby out.”
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One of the deputies broke the glass of the rear driver-side window to reach the child.
“You can hear the concern in the deputies’ voices,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “They knew they had to get the child out right away, along with the mother because the water was still rising.”
As firefighters arrived, the child was removed from the car, along with her mother a couple minutes later.
“We have a great relationship with Flagler County Fire Rescue and the city of Palm Coast,” Staly said. “We’ve prepared for these kinds of things. You hope you never have to use it , but you’re ready if you do.”
The mother, daughter and man involved in the crash were taken to the hospital where they received treatment for their injuries.
Staly said the teamwork from first responders that day potentially saved two lives.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Staly said. “We have a motto here: ‘An honor to serve, a duty to protect.’ They certainly lived up to that.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
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