'Thank you, Jesus!' Video shows Florida deputy, citizen sucked into drainage pipe in raging flood waters

A sheriff's deputy and a citizen were sucked into a drainage pipe Friday, barely escaping with their lives, Florida law enforcement officials reported.

"David, can you believe what just happened to us? Just breathe. Just breathe," Escambia County sheriff's deputy William Hollingsworth said after he and a citizen identified only as "David" emerged from a drainage pipe about 100 yards from where they had been sucked into it.

"Oh, thank you Jesus! I thought I was dying," David said in the video.

"When I came out, you were right behind me," David also said, recounting the terrifying incident to other first responders at the scene.

"Me and you man," David said, as the two clasped hands. "That's an experience for life. I appreciate you, brother."

Deputy William Hollingsworth was on patrol Friday night, helping stranded motorists caught in rapidly rising waters, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post.

When Deputy Hollingsworth got out of his patrol car to help a citizen trapped in the rising waters, he saw the individual dip beneath the water. Hollingsworth rushed to his aid, putting his own safety aside.

As Hollingsworth attempted the rescue, both he and the citizen were sucked into a drainage pipe. The pair was then swept beneath Highway 98, a four-lane roadway.

They were submerged for about 30 seconds, ESCO said, traveling about 100 feet to eventually resurface on the other side.

The two are "lucky to be alive," ESCO wrote.

Dramatic footage of the event was captured on Deputy Hollingsworth's bodycam.

The terrifying event is "is an example of the exceptional courage displayed by the men and women of law enforcement every day," ESCO also wrote.

Escambia County sheriff Chip Simmons explained that the area had experienced severe weather and torrential downpours that peaked in the early morning hours the day the event occurred.

Watch video below provided by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office showing the moment Deputy William Hollingsworth and the citizen he was trying to rescue were swept into the drainage pipe, sent beneath the highway, and eventually emerged on the other side.

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