Ascension deputy had to ‘do everything it takes’ to rescue family from sinking pickup – The Advocate

GONZALES Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Haydel was just finishing his 12-hour patrol shift on the roads of Ascension Parish, was parked in his driveway in St. Amant and about to turn off his police radio and head indoors when the call came in the early morning hours of Jan. 27.

A pickup truck with children inside had gone off winding Weber City Road in St. Amant, seven minutes from Haydel's house, and was sinking in the dark, cold waters of New River Canal.

Haydel was out of his driveway and in the bayou in minutes, soon followed by many others, and broke out the back window of the truck with his bare hand, what officials have called an act of "brute strength" fueled by an "adrenaline dump" that helped save lives.

Thursday, Ascension leaders hailed that moment of grace in Haydel's driveway and the life-saving heroism that followed: that Haydel was still in his police unit when the call came, that his radio was still on, and that he and others so quickly and willingly put their own lives at risk in a murky bayou during the dark of night.

"I was called to do this job," Haydel told reporters Thursday. "It was ...," Haydel added, holding back some emotion, "it was something I had to do."

In the middle of the night, in a misty rain and fog, a deputy dove in a canal to punch out the window of a truck sinking in the water and pull

Outside the Parish Governmental Complex in Gonzales, Ascension Sheriff Bobby Webre, Parish President Clint Cointment, St. Amant Fire Chief James LeBlanc and others honored Haydel, Deputy Jamie Wolfe, Dispatcher Karly Gutierrez and volunteer Sorrento firefighters Jeff Kelly and Shane Wellman for their "service beyond self."

Until Thursday, the first responders had shunned media attention for heroic actions that they said was just part of their jobs, actions that saved the lives of a mother, one of her two children and another woman trapped in the submerged truck.

"When you save another human being's life, that is service beyond self because you're normally putting your own self at great risk when you're saving someone's life and that's what these men and women and first responders do," Webre said.

Jason Molder, 4, of St. Amant, one of the two children pulled from the sunken truck, later died at the hospital. His mother,Alayna Duncan, 24, of St. Amant, remains in critical condition.

Each of the people honored Thursday did his or her part to prevent the crash from being much worse, the officials said.

Deputy Wolfe was still starting his shift to replace Haydel and rushed to the scene and into the water shortly after Haydel.

After Ascension Parish deputies rescued a mother and her two children from a truck that crashed and became submerged in a St. Amant canal earl

Firefighters Wellman and Kelly hadn't even been called to the scene other Ascension departments had been but went anyway because they were close and could help, LeBlanc said.

Dispatcher Gutierrez displayed quick thinking in directing Haydel and others to the crash, Webre added.

The initial 911 caller wasn't at the scene and Gutierrez had that caller give her the number of the person who was there, so she could talk to that person. Gutierrez was able to direct deputies and firefighters more precisely in the poorly lighted area of St. Amant where the crash happened, Webre said.

The Nissan Titan had gone off Weber City Road, also known as La. 429, around 3:11 a.m. near George Lambert Road.

The night was rainy and foggy. The road was slick. The truck went off the side of Weber City slightly, and Duncan appears to have overcorrected, causing the truck to spin off into the bayou, the sheriff has said.

When Haydel arrived at the crash essentially first, he said, the truck was submerged to its roof and its cabin filled with water. He said he didn't know if anyone was alive inside but "was just hoping."

Taking off his equipment, Haydel, a 30-year-old St. Amant native who has been with department since 2014, dove into a bayou that was so deep he could not touch the bottom.

Once he was nearer to the truck and could hear the children inside, Haydel said he knew he had to act quickly and "do everything it takes to get them out."

Haydel said his memory of breaking open the Titan's back window is a blur but recalls pulling the children and others out and handing them off to others in the water.

"I do remember talking to both children in the water and letting them know everything was going to be OK," Haydel said.

First responders performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation once the children and others were freed from the water. All had a pulse once at the hospital.

Haydel, who has once before as deputy recused some from a sunken vehicle in Ascension, had to be taken to the hospital later, he said, because he injured his right hand breaking out the window.

He had a brace on it during Thursday's ceremony as he and his colleagues were given certificates for their actions.

"Although many people were involved in this act of heroism, today we are here to honor five of those people," Cointment, the parish president, said. "Five people who put others before themselves, five people who used their training, education, knowledge, coupled with immense bravery and perseverance, five people who put themselves at risk to save others."

Read the original post:

Ascension deputy had to 'do everything it takes' to rescue family from sinking pickup - The Advocate