BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) – Dashcam video captured the moment a Florida Highway Patrol trooper quickly reacted to a car heading his way in Boynton Beach.
FHP Trooper Jeremy Medastin was investigating a crash in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 near Woolbright Road on Monday when he started walking back towards his cruiser.
Cameras were rolling when a car could be seen heading straight towards the trooper.
“The trooper was dispatched to a two-vehicle crash on I-95 southbound south of Woolbright,” Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alvaro Feola said. “It was raining pretty heavy. The highway, you know, is very dangerous.”
In the video, Medastin could be seen pulling over and speaking to the drivers involved in the crash.
Once the trooper begins walking back to his cruiser, Medastin could be seen making a quick decision to lift himself onto the wall on the side of the expressway.
“There’s a vehicle that got on I-95 to travel south and apparently due to the weather conditions, the driver lost control and the vehicle veered towards the wall,” Feola said.
The driver that hit the trooper was cited for driving too fast for the conditions.
A report also noted that the driver’s tire treads were low and may have caused the car to hydroplane into the median wall.
Although he was left with a broken ankle after the crash, it could have been worse had it not been for his last minute decision.
“He sees the vehicle coming towards the wall, and he did an excellent reaction to jump towards the wall because, if not, I don’t know how things would’ve turned out,” Feola said.
Other authorities on scene assisted Medastin to get back to his cruiser before paramedics assessed his injury and transported him to the hospital.
“We don’t know if he has any broken bones,” Feola said. “They’re doing more tests to see if there’s any ligament injuries. We’re so lucky he’s alive. You can see the dangers that our troopers and other officers face every day, as they’re out there serving the public. We are lucky that nobody else got hurt. It could’ve been a lot worse, especially if the vehicle goes towards the other vehicles that were part of the crash, and we are also very lucky that our trooper is alive.”
Medastin has been employed for FHP for around a year.
He has since been released from the hospital and is home recovering. He is expected to be OK.
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