Seatbelt Save
 
By Major Shawn Kimmitz
July 10, 2023
 

Usually it is the seatbelt that saves a passenger, but on Friday afternoon a deputy had to rescue a child from her seatbelt.

On July 7th at 4:45 p.m. Deputy A.M. Pitts was flagged down in the parking lot of Sheetz on Wyche Road. A parent advised his 11-year-old daughter was trapped in her seatbelt and unable to get out.

Deputy Pitts observed the seatbelt was twisted around the child’s stomach and she was red in the face. The young lady was in pain and beginning to have difficulty breathing. Unable to loosen the seatbelt, Deputy Pitts used her pocket knife to cut the seatbelt and free the child.

The child was uninjured and was able to move to a new seat in the SUV for a functioning seatbelt for the remainder of the trip. Deputy Pitts and the parents are unsure how the child was able to twist the seatbelt completely around her body and get stuck.

Thank you Deputy Pitts for being in the right place at the right time to help this young lady.