Severe storms in Florida created a scene right out of a horror movie when a man caught in rising waters got sucked into a storm drain.
Residents in the state have been hit with severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and flooding in recent days, with the wild weather even bringing a tornado through Escambia County.
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It was there that David Boss had been leaving work on Thursday (15 June) and making his way through chest-deep water on Highway 98 when he suddenly got pulled into the drain designed to get rid of excess ground water.
His friend, Cameron Tillman, had watched the horrifying scene unfold after getting into an accident of his own as he arrived to try and pick Boss up from work.
"Water started pouring down," Tillman told WEAR News. "I couldn’t do anything about it. I hit a ditch. My car started filling up with water.”
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Escambia County Deputy William Hollingsworth had also been on the scene, where he had been helping stranded motorists, but before he had chance to grab Boss the powerful current sucked him into the drain as well.
“The current was strong enough to suck not one, but two grown men under it," Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons told WEAR. "Consider that our deputy was wearing a full uniform and a rain jacket.”
Boss told the news outlet he didn't think he'd live to see another day when he got pulled under.
"Life flashes before your eyes," he said. "That’s the truth. You really do think about your life if you think you’re about to die.”
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Bodycam footage caught the moment the deputy got pulled under, being swept into total darkness in a drainage pipe.
Thankfully, both men were spat out of the pipe 100 feet away after being underwater for approximately 30 seconds.
"I almost died,” Boss said in the bodycam footage, while Hollingsworth said: "I've never held my breath like that in my life.”
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Boss later said: "When I came out the other end, [Hollingsworth] was there.
"That means without thinking, he wanted to save me. He was doing his duty. That changed my whole perspective on people.”
Boss and Hollingsworth grabbed on to one another and managed to make it out of the flood waters to safety.
The sheriff’s office has described Hollingsworth’s rescue efforts as 'an example of the exceptional courage displayed by the men and women of law enforcement every day'.
Emily Brown