‘I’m just glad to be here’: Perry County man alive following horrific crash

PERRY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - The wakeup call that Austin Deaton received on Saturday is one that any family member dreads to receive.

“I got told that my brother was dead laying in the creek,” Deaton said. “I didn’t want to wake up to that.”

Deaton had just found out that his brother Charles was involved in a serious car crash at the intersection of Little Leatherwood Creek Road and Huff Lane, one that flipped his car completely upside down submerged in water.

”When the deputy arrived, they discovered later that there was a man trapped in there,” Perry County Sheriff Joe Engle said.

Police officials said that Deaton was trapped in the vehicle for more than seven hours. Body camera footage from the Perry County Sheriff’s office shows the extend of the damage. Engle said that had it not been for a bystander with a tow truck, the situation could have been much worse.

”They used the boom to lift the car up and was able between the deputy and the EMTs and some of the citizens there, to safely remove the gentleman from the vehicle,” Engle said.

Deaton walked away with minor injuries and is now home with his family, unable to process what took place.

”I have no clue what happened. I remember everything, but it’s just like bits and pieces,” Charles said. “I don’t even know what to say, I’m just glad to be here.”

Through it all, he remains grateful for those that helped save his life.

”I’d just like to say thank you to the people that pulled me out of the car and the ones that found me and called 911,” Charles said. “I’d just like to say thanks.”

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