‘I needed to get this guy out of there’: Coast Guard members save man trapped in van after crash
Three Coast Guard members rescued a man from a car collision while they were driving back to base from lunch on Friday.
Petty Officer First Class Erik White, a machinery technician, Petty Officer First Class William Collins, a boatswain’s mate, and Petty Officer First Class Joseph Walp, an electrician’s mate, said they stopped their car when they saw dark smoke after two vehicles crashed near Lumen Field.
“We parked the car, ran into the scene, noticed a man trapped inside injured,” Walp said.
During the rescue, the three assessed the scene and it was determined that breaking the passenger side window and pulling the trapped victim out was the best course of action.
“I knew I needed to get this guy out of there,” White said. White said that he asked people who were nearby for a tool to break the window and that’s when Christopher Cameron stepped in. He ran and grabbed a hammer from his car so that White could break the window.
“I ain’t never seen nothing like that happen in front of my eyes, so, you know, me, I just went into fight or flight mode,” Cameron said.
White was able to break the window and reach the victim. He said he pulled the victim out with help from Collins.
They were able to get the victim out and transfer him to medics when they arrived on scene.
“We think it’s our duty both on and off the water to assist our fellow citizens,” Collins said.
