THE DRAMATIC MOMENT A DRIVER CRASHES THROUGH A TOLLBOOTH, ROLLS ONTO DAYTONA BEACH, AND THEN INTO THE OCEAN. DRONE VIDEO CAPTURED THE AFTERMATH OF THE INCIDENT THAT INJURED FIVE PEOPLE, INCLUDING A LITTLE BOY WHO WAS SWIMMING. SUMMER: WESH 2’S CLAIRE METZ JOINS US LIVE. THE LIFEGUARD ON DUTY CAME VERY CLOSE TO BEING A CASUALTY. CLAIRE: HE SURE DID. DAMIEN CURRY TOLD ME HE WAS LITERALLY SICK TO HIS STOMACH WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER. HE WAS SITTING ON A TOWER ALMOST NEXT TO WHERE THE CAR WENT IN THE WATER. THEN HE WENT INTO RESCUE MODE. >> I MEAN IT WAS IN A COUPLE — IT WAS WITHIN A COUPLE FEET OF HITTING MY TOWER. CLAIRE: DAMIEN CURRY WAS STUNNED SUNDAY LATE AFTERNOON AS A VEHICLE, THIS IS NEW VIDEO FROM A NEARBY HOTEL, BLEW ONTO THE BEACH AND INTO THE OCEAN. HERE’S ANOTHER ANGLE THAT CAPTURES THE SOUND OF THE VIOLENT IMPACT AS THE CAR FIRST HITS THE UNOCCUPIED TOLLBOOTH AND CLOSED GATE. >> I SAW THE CAR SMACK INTO THE TOLLBOOTH, TOLLBOOTH EXPLODED, I WAS LIKE, OH MY GOSH, I’M TURNING AROUND. I’M LOOKING AT IT, AND THE CAR WAS COMING AT ME. THE GLASS WAS SHATTERED, THE BUMPER’S OFF, IT’S SMOKING, IT’S COMING AT ME. IT JUST BARELY MISSES ME. CLAIRE: IT DIDN’T MISS A 5-YEAR-OLD BOY, SWIMMING, WHO WAS PULLED UNDER THE VEHICLE. DAVID ALAMOS TOOK SOME STITCHES FOR DEEP LACERATIONS BUT HAS SINCE BEEN RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL. LIFEGUARD CURRY RAN TO THE VEHICLE, THE DRIVER, HIS FIANCÉE, AND TWO CHILDREN INSIDE. >> THE CAR WAS ALMOST AT THE SANDBAR. IT WAS FLOATING. MOB OF PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO BRING IT BACK. CLAIRE: THEY GOT IT BACK, LIFEGUARD CURRY RESCUED ONE OF THE CHILDREN, THE OTHER CHILD AND THE MOTHER WERE ALREADY OUT. THEN CURRY WENT FOR THE DRIVER, WHO AUTHORITIES BELIEVE SUFFERED SOME KIND OF SEIZURE, CAUSING HIM TO LOSE CONTROL. >> I’M UNBUCKLING THIS GUY, THE DRIVER, AND I’M GETTING BUZZED LIKE THE CAR IS SHORT-CIRCUITING . I’M GETTING SHOCKED. LIKE ELECTRICAL SHOCK. CLAIRE: DESPITE THE RISKS, DAMIEN CURRY KNEW PEOPLE WERE IN TROUBLE. >> ANYTHING GOES IN THAT WATER, I’M GOING TO GO AFTER IT. ANYBODY ON THIS BEACH WOULD HAVE DONE IT. I WORK WITH A BUNCH OF HEROES AND I LOOK UP TO ALL OF THEM. CLAIRE: CURRY HAS BEEN A LIFEGUARD FOR 4 YEARS, RESCUED COUNTLESS SWIMMERS, BUT THIS EVENT WAS A FIRST. THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE REMAINS HOSPITALIZED ACCORDI
Volusia County lifeguard describes moment car nearly takes out tower before crashing into water
A car crashed through a toll booth and onto Daytona Beach on Sunday. Lifeguard Damien Curry said he was literally sick to his stomach after it was all over. He was sitting on a tower almost next to where the car went in the water, then he went into rescue mode. RELATED: Video shows scary moment car crashes into toll booth, water in Daytona Beach“I mean it was in a couple of feet of hitting my tower,” Curry said.Curry was stunned Sunday late afternoon as a vehicle blew onto the beach and into the ocean. The car first hits the unoccupied toll booth and closed gate.“I saw the car smack into the toll booth. Tollbooth exploded. I was like, oh my gosh, I’m turning around. I’m looking at it, and the car is coming at me,” Curry said. “The glass was shattered. The bumper’s off. It’s smoking. It’s coming at me. I’m like, it just barely misses me.”It didn’t miss a 5-year-old boy who was swimming and pulled under the vehicle. David Alamos took some stitches for deep lacerations but has since been released from the hospital. Lifeguard Curry ran to the vehicle with the driver, his fiance and two children inside.RELATED: 5-year-old hit when car drove into crowd on Daytona Beach expected to be OK“The car is almost to the sandbar, so it’s floating, right? And like a mob of people are trying to bring it back,” Curry said.They got it back. Curry rescued one of the children since the other child and the mother were already out. Then Curry went for the driver who authorities believe suffered some kind of seizure causing him to lose control.“I’m unbuckling this guy. The driver. And I’m getting buzzed like the car is short-circuiting, you know? I’m like, I’m getting shocked. Like electrical shock,” Curry said. Despite the risks, Curry knew people were in trouble. RELATED: 5 hurt when car crashes into toll booth, water in Daytona Beach“Anything goes in that water, I’m going to go after it…Anybody on this beach would have done it. I work with a bunch of heroes, and I look up to all of them,” Curry said.Curry has been a lifeguard for four years and rescued countless swimmers, but this event was a first. Meanwhile, the driver of the vehicle remains hospitalized according to a family spokesman. He underwent an MRI and has been referred to a neurologist in his home state of Massachusetts.
A car crashed through a toll booth and onto Daytona Beach on Sunday.
Lifeguard Damien Curry said he was literally sick to his stomach after it was all over. He was sitting on a tower almost next to where the car went in the water, then he went into rescue mode.
RELATED: Video shows scary moment car crashes into toll booth, water in Daytona Beach
“I mean it was in a couple of feet of hitting my tower,” Curry said.
Curry was stunned Sunday late afternoon as a vehicle blew onto the beach and into the ocean. The car first hits the unoccupied toll booth and closed gate.
“I saw the car smack into the toll booth. Tollbooth exploded. I was like, oh my gosh, I’m turning around. I’m looking at it, and the car is coming at me,” Curry said. “The glass was shattered. The bumper’s off. It’s smoking. It’s coming at me. I’m like, it just barely misses me.”
It didn’t miss a 5-year-old boy who was swimming and pulled under the vehicle. David Alamos took some stitches for deep lacerations but has since been released from the hospital. Lifeguard Curry ran to the vehicle with the driver, his fiance and two children inside.
RELATED: 5-year-old hit when car drove into crowd on Daytona Beach expected to be OK
“The car is almost to the sandbar, so it’s floating, right? And like a mob of people are trying to bring it back,” Curry said.
They got it back. Curry rescued one of the children since the other child and the mother were already out. Then Curry went for the driver who authorities believe suffered some kind of seizure causing him to lose control.
“I’m unbuckling this guy. The driver. And I’m getting buzzed like the car is short-circuiting, you know? I’m like, I’m getting shocked. Like electrical shock,” Curry said.
Despite the risks, Curry knew people were in trouble.
RELATED: 5 hurt when car crashes into toll booth, water in Daytona Beach
“Anything goes in that water, I’m going to go after it…Anybody on this beach would have done it. I work with a bunch of heroes, and I look up to all of them,” Curry said.
Curry has been a lifeguard for four years and rescued countless swimmers, but this event was a first. Meanwhile, the driver of the vehicle remains hospitalized according to a family spokesman. He underwent an MRI and has been referred to a neurologist in his home state of Massachusetts.
