The quick actions on the part of a North Carolina State Highway Patrolman and an associate dean at Campbell University are being hailed today for helping to save a man that had been involved in a collision . Trooper D. L. Braswell was off duty and taking his daughter to school when he encountered a vehicle off of the roadway and partially submerged in water on the shoulder of US 301 near Benson, NC. A second person, Dr. Scott Asbill, also seeing the vehicle in the water stopped to provide assistance.
The two entered the freezing waters to render assistance to the lone male occupant that was trapped in the vehicle and suffering from the cold water temperatures. The driver was yelling for help as the two made several attempts to remove the driver by way of both driver and passenger doors. In the course of making multiple attempts for around ten minutes the two freed the driver as fire personnel arrived on the scene.
The driver is identified as Jarrell Booker, a twenty year old male, who was transported to Wake Medical in Raleigh due to hypothermic issues. The driver fell asleep on his way home from work when he traveled off of the roadway to the road right, over corrected, then crossed the center line and traveling off the road left into the water. The car overturned becoming partially submerged in the water entrapping the driver. The driver was charged with careless and reckless driving as a result of the collision.
Quick actions on the part of Trooper Braswell and Dr. Asbill surely helped save Mr. Booker from a life or death situation.
For more information, please email Sergeant Chris Knox or phone 919-733-5027.
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