Bodycam video shows deputies rescue driver lost in snow

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New body camera video obtained by News 8 shows Van Buren County deputies rescuing a man who had been freezing alone in the woods for hours.

Two deputies, Jeff Gilbert and Don Collier, followed footsteps through the snow to help save the man’s life.

The 64-year-old Lawton man crashed his car on 22nd Street near W U Avenue in Porter Township around 7 p.m. Friday. Deputies believe he suffered a medical episode as a result of the crash and had wandered into the woods. There were no signs of intoxication.

“Following him in his tracks, there was no sense of direction,” a deputy can be heard saying in the video. “It was just aimless wandering.”

The man eventually asked a homeowner if he could use the phone. The resident ended up calling dispatch. But when deputies arrived on scene around 11 p.m., the man was gone.

The deputies then walked hundreds of yards through the woods to try and find him. They pushed their way through branches, sticks and snow.

They eventually found the man curled up in the ground. He was showing signs of hypothermia and was bleeding from cuts to his hands.

“The driver couldn’t stand up on his own,” Van Buren County Undersheriff Casey Davis said Thursday. “He had to be helped out from where he had laid down at. I think due to the fact he was hypothermic, he was struggling to even put a sentence together.”

The man can be heard in the video asking deputies to take his hand as he walked through the woods. The deputies eventually got him to safety, placing him inside a patrol car.

“We’re gonna have a seat in this car right here, OK, get you warm,” the deputy can be heard telling the man.

The man was eventually taken to the hospital.

The undersheriff said the deputies will soon be nominated for the department’s life-saving award. He said if it wasn’t for them, the man wouldn’t have made it through the night.

“It’s guaranteed if they didn’t find him, we would’ve probably found him deceased him the next day,” Davis told News 8.

If you ever find yourself in the cold following a crash, Davis recommended staying put and waiting for police to arrive. It’s also important to be prepared, especially during this cold stretch.

“Put flares in your car,” Davis said. “Put blankets in your car. If there’s not a way for you to get the help, blankets and survival equipment are great things you can put inside your trunk.”