By EMS1 Staff
DURHAM, N.C. — A police officer is being hailed as a hero after making an icy water rescue during a snowstorm.
ABC11 reported that Corp. J.J. Barazandeh responded to a call about a car in the water and saw two women waving for help.
“I happen to see, out of the corner of my eye, two sets of hands waving down a deep embankment,” Barazandeh recalled. “It wasn’t until I got out of my car that I realized there were two women who had called, and they were in the water.”
Barazandeh said he took his gear off and jumped into the water to save the women.
“They were screaming and asking for help,” Barazandeh said. “I wasn’t thinking at the time. I didn’t realize how cold the water was going to be ... it wasn’t until I got out that I realized I was pretty cold.”
Barazandeh said he instructed the women to float on their stomachs because the bed of the creek was too soft.
“Time was not on their side,” he said.
Two bystanders also helped Barazandeh bring the women to safety.
“It was a team effort,” Barazandeh said. “I know that anyone that I worked with, if they arrived first, they would have done the same thing.”
Durham Police Department said the women were unable to speak with Barazandeh immediately after the incident, but they called later and thanked everyone involved.
Police Chief CJ Davis said she’s proud of Barazandeh’s actions.
"[My officers] have a lot of compassion for what they do and many times they don’t think about themselves,” she said. “I’m a proud mom right about now.”
https://twitter.com/ChuckManningSr1/status/954038824333701120