LDWF agent credited with saving woman’s life

A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agent saved the life of a motorist on May 19 in East Feliciana Parish.

Senior Agent Mason Spillman was on patrol when he came across a car in the ditch at the entrance of the Port Hudson State Historic Site off of Hwy. 61 around 9:30 a.m.

When he got out of his truck, Spillman found two good Samaritans pulling a 27-year-old New Roads woman out of the car that was in the ditch. Her leg was severed at the knee. Spillman immediately applied a tourniquet to her severed leg to stop the bleeding and called 911.

While waiting for the emergency medical services (EMS) ambulance, Spillman learned that the good Samaritans witnessed the car hit a guardrail before going in the ditch and that he arrived within 30 seconds of the accident happening. When the accident happened, it was during a severe thunderstorm with heavy rains.

An East Baton Rouge Parish EMS ambulance arrived around 9:45 a.m. and transported the woman to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge where she is listed in stable condition. It is believed that the tourniquet that Spillman applied prevented her from bleeding to death.

The Zachary Fire Department, East Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office also arrived on scene and assisted with traffic and loading the woman into the ambulance.