“She was completely lifeless. She looks deceased in these videos,” Tavares police detective Courtney Sullivan said. “So she’s very thankful today.”
A female Florida cop was treated with three doses of Narcan by fellow officers after she reportedly became victim to fentanyl poisoning from touching drugs she found inside a vehicle that was being searched.
Body cam footage from the Tuesday night traffic stop, which has now gone viral, shows the disturbing moment Tavares Officer Courtney Bannick appeared to be struggling for her life.
In the video, one can see Bannick lying motionless on the ground while being administered the life-saving drug.
According to a New York Post report, Bannick touched a rolled-up dollar bill containing what she believed to be narcotics in the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, she was gasping for air and "in and out of consciousness and needing immediate medical attention," said the Tavares Police Department in a press release obtained by Click Orlando.
After hearing her struggling to breathe over her radio, three nearby officers lept into action; removing Bannick from her vehicle, laying her on the ground next to the side of the road, and administering Narcan, the fast-acting medication. After being given the medication she was able to sit upright and talk, before she lost consciousness and seemed to stop breathing, the bodycam footage shows.
"She was completely lifeless. She looks deceased in these videos," Tavares police detective Courtney Sullivan said to Fox 35 Orlando. "So she's very thankful today."
Bannick was given three Narcan doses before she was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. She is expected to make a full recovery, the New York Post reported.
The officer used the harrowing moment to reflect.
"I have done this 100 times before the same way. It only takes one time and a minimal amount," Bannick said. "I'm thankful I wasn't alone and had immediate help."
"If the other officers weren't there, there's a very high chance and probability that today would be different and that we would be wearing our thin blue line — the straps that go over our badges," Sullivan said, referring to when an officer falls in the line of duty.
The individuals who allegedly had the drugs in their possession are possibly facing felony charges, the Post reported.
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