‘Right place, right time’: Off-duty deputy saves man after horrific crash

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Many people are calling an off-duty deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office a hero after he unexpectedly saved a man’s life this weekend.

A social media post catching the man in action has gone viral, and the deputy decided to share the story of how it all went down.

The young deputy had no idea what he was coming across but when he saw a young man in danger he moved quickly and saved a life in the process.

Not all heroes wear capes but this one wears a badge.

Deputy Will Bankston was driving down Staring Lane right off Perkins Road in Baton Rouge on Sunday, Jan. 22. As he and his girlfriend were headed home, he says a couple of cars hit their brakes at the edge of a bridge.

The five-year veteran felt something was off, so he got out of his car and something caught his eye.

“I noticed the back half of a car sitting down here … split in half,” said Bankston.

A car had gotten in a wreck and was literally split in two. One part was in the grass and the other was in the water under the bridge.

As Bankston got closer, he noticed what appeared to be someone’s leg under all the debris.

“All the training and experience from the sheriff’s office, I just started running,” he noted.

The driver was pinned under the car and drowning from the rushing water under the bridge.

“I grabbed his arm, pulled him as hard as I could, pulled him out of the water, and when I did, I pulled him up on the rocks and started doing a sternum rub to try to get a little bit of a response,” explained Bankston.

The young man started coughing up water and blood as Bankston tried his best to keep the driver’s head above water.

“I’m trying to keep him from sliding in the water because it’s super wet down there, super muddy, and his body just kept sliding back in, so I had to hold onto him the whole time and keep him right there, and try to stabilize him so he doesn’t get more injured,” described Bankston.

A few minutes later, EMS and first responders were on the scene.

“I’m not going to say I’m a hero or anything like that, but I got him out of the water as quick as I could, so if I had to do CPR, I could do it as soon as possible,” said Bankston.

A social media post capturing Bankston in the moment went viral, generating thousands of likes and comments.

I guess you can say, “right place, right time.”

“I just stay humble. I do this for the sheriff’s office, and I’m just trying to do my best for the community and I’m praying for a speedy recovery for him and his family,” added Bankston.

The good news is the victim is expected to be okay.

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