FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A good Samaritan turned his car around after spotting a single-vehicle crash and jumped into action to help those inside, and this isn’t the first time the man used his quick thinking to help people out of a dangerous situation.
Wednesday, around 2:15 p.m., Fort Lauderdale Police and Fire Rescue responded to a single-vehicle crash where a red pickup truck slammed into a tree.
It happened along the 2900 block of Davie Boulevard.
“The only thing I heard was– I mean, the boom,” said a resident.
“It’s so surreal, it’s so surreal to see, an intense accident like that,” said Darryl Darling.
Police said the driver lost consciousness while driving, which caused him to crash into the tree. The female passenger in the vehicle was severely injured in the wreck.
Several strangers saw what had taken place and jumped into action.
Darling said he was driving down the same stretch of road when he saw the pickup truck veer off and crash.
“Didn’t really believe what I had seen at first and drove by,” he said. “Then, as neighbors and people on the block came out, this was may more serious than it was.”
Darling said when he got to the mangled truck, the two people inside were in rough shape.
“The driver was unconscious, kind of rigored. The passenger, a female was severely injured in the leg,” he said. “I helped escort her out safely — she felt safe enough to move.”
The passenger had a massive lower leg injury and will possibly require amputation, according to paramedics.
Darling also helped an FLPD officer get the driver out of the car. Officers administered doses of NARCAN to resuscitate him.
“The driver was completely unconscious until he was NARCANNED twice into consciousness,” said Darling.
NARCAN is medication typically used to help reverse the effects of a drug overdose.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue transported both to Broward Health Medical Center with traumatic injuries.
Darling said he was just at the right place at the right time, and it’s not the first time it has happened to him.
Just a couple weeks ago, he was at a Wilton Manors bar when a man approached the bartender and placed a hand grenade on the counter.
Darling was able to talk the man down and escorted him outside, tackling and holding him until police arrived.
It has been a wild month for Darling, but he said he was doing what anyone should do if they find themselves in a similar situation.
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