Dramatic body camera footage showed Florida officers rescuing a driver whose car ended up submerged in a canal after the victim’s cellphone sent an SOS signal.
Officials with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said 911 dispatchers were alerted early Wednesday after the crash caused the driver’s phone to send the alert with automated coordinates.
Using the coordinates, deputies responded and found the car upside down in the dark, murky waters of the canal, officials said.
Officers could hear the injured man calling for help and jumped into the water to help him out of the car.
“Okay buddy, I got you, we’ll find a way in,” a deputy can be heard telling the driver in the video. “Stay back from the window buddy, I’ll break it, okay?”
The man was taken to a local hospital where he is expected to make a full recovery.
Authorities said the driver told them he crashed into the water to try to avoid an animal in the road.
“We would like to commend our brave deputies and incredible dispatchers for their perseverance and bravery in locating and rescuing this crash victim using only coordinates automatically released from the victim’s phone,” the sheriff’s office said in a communicated “Amazing technology and incredible work.”
