A selfless Florida Highway Patrol trooper pushed a man out of the path of an out-of-control car, and then got hit by the same vehicle.
Trooper Mithil Patel was released from the hospital Tuesday night, ABC affiliate Local 10 News reported. He’ll have quite a story to tell ― and a viral video to back it up.
The driver he pushed out of harm’s way, Rony Bottex, already had plenty to say about the officer.
“He pushed me out the way,” Bottex said, per the affiliate. “If it wasn’t for that, I’d be a dead man.”
The trooper was investigating a crash Monday involving Bottex’s car on I-95 near Hobe Sound, Florida, when another accident caused a driver to spin out toward the two, The Associated Press noted. In the video above, Patel shoves Bottex to the side and the car slams Patel into the air.
“He had to protect a person he doesn’t even know,” Bottex, 65, told CBS affiliate WPEC, which shot the accident video, in the clip above. “I don’t believe everybody would do the same.”
Bottex suffered a fractured leg, WPTV News reported. Patel, 31, was originally taken to the hospital in critical condition, USA Today reported.