Retired firefighter Rick Rickerson saved Rebecca Buchanan’s life when he pulled her from a wrecked car that had crashed and flipped over.
And he was rewarded by being put in jail.
Rickerson was driving on GA 109 in Meansville, GA when he saw Buchanan lose control of her car. Her car rolled over a few times and crashed. The doors wouldn’t open, trapping her inside.
Rickerson ran over to help. He and a few other good Samaritans joined together to pry the door open. When they were finally successful Rickerson pulled Buchanan out and found her unconscious and not breathing.
He started to perform CPR and found her mouth was full of blood which he had to clear away several times.
“My training pretty much kicked in as soon as I witnessed the wreck,” he told Alive 11. “You go into the mode of firefighter when you see this happen.”
Thankfully, he was able to help Buchanan breathe again.
But just a few moments after she began to breathe a policeman came over and demanded that Rickerson move his car. He had left it running in the middle of the street when he jumped out to help Buchanan.
“And I looked over at him and I said, ‘I’m not leaving this patient,'” Rickerson said.
The emergency services had yet to arrive, so Rickerson didn’t want to leave the patient even though the police officer said he used to be a paramedic.
Before he knew it, Rickerson was handcuffed by the officer and arrested while Buchanan was airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries.
“He saved my life. It was very serious. They didn’t think I was going to make it,” she said. “It took seven hours in surgey to put all my spinal cord back together and fuse it together with metal rods.”
Even though Rickerson is responsible for saving Buchanan’s life he ended up being put behind bars for a few hours and charged with obstruction.
Thankfully the charges against him were eventually dismissed.
“After thoroughly investigating the case, viewing videotape dash-cam evidence and interviewing witnesses on the scene, the State cannot secure a conviction for this offense,” Pike County District Attorney Benjamin Coker said. “Therefore, this case will be dismissed in the interest of Justice.”
Buchanan said she is blessed and glad that there are people like Rickerson out there who will risk their neck to save others. Learn more about her rescue in the video below.
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