Woman pulled from overturned car on Courtney Campbell Causeway

TAMPA (FOX 13) - An off-duty Hillsborough County deputy became more than a Good Samaritan -- he was a driver's guardian angel Friday morning after she overturned her vehicle on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Deputy Matt McCutcheon was on his way to work and was crossing the Causeway as traffic was coming to a standstill; he had a hunch there was a bad accident ahead of him.

"When I came over the crest of the bridge I saw a car over-turned," McCutcheon said. "The back wheels on the car were still spinning."

According to Tampa Police, Donna Mullins, 60, had been following another car too closely and tried to swerve out of the way when the driver in front of her started to brake.

Her car hit one vehicle and then the median before flipping over, trapping Mullins.

"When I got to the over-turned vehicle, I had to duck in and see what I had and I noticed she wasn't breathing at first," McCutcheon told FOX 13.

The off-duty deputy, who was driving his unmarked cruiser, radioed for help and then ran back over to help Mullins, who was awake.

McCutcheon wasn't about to drive away.

"I told her I wasn't going to leave her side until the firemen arrive on scene," he said. "I Really just kept  repeating that and making sure she was okay, asking her what she felt like, if she could feel her fingers and toes."

McCutcheon spent about 10 minutes lying on the ground, comforting Mullins until firefighters and pulled her out of the car.

"Obviously it was a good thing. They had her sitting up and she was talking and alert," he said, adding she told him she hurt her arm and leg in the crash.

Responding to emergencies is nothing new for McCutcheon; he's already been recognized for two other lives during his eight-year career.

In one case, he revived a man using a defibrillator. In the other case, he had to use CPR. Both people are still alive today.

"It's the right place, right time, providing the right type of care that people need," McCutcheon said.
"You got to be able to go to bed and say, 'I did what I could.'"

TPD said Mullins was ticketed for unsafe driving.