Indiana Trooper Uses Tourniquet to Help Save Injured Passenger's Life Following Crash

BURNETTSVILLE, Indiana -- An Indiana State Police trooper used a tourniquet to save a passenger's life following a crash Saturday morning.

Trooper Chris Miller responded to the crash on Cass County Road 825 West around 6:49 a.m. after a 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo traveling southbound went off the west side of the road, into a wooded area and hit multiple trees according to a news release.

The driver, 19-year-old Brady Riley, had to be extricated from the vehicle by firefighters and was flown by medical helicopter to a Ft. Wayne hospital with possible broken bones and internal injuries.

Riley's passenger, 21-year-old James Hornback, was ejected from the vehicle, causing his left leg to be severed below the knee.

Friends of the men, who had been at a campfire prior to the crash, discovered them after searching for them when they didn't return. The friends used a belt  as a make shift tourniquet, tightening it around Hornback's severed leg to prevent blood loss from the injured limb.

When Miller arrived on the scene, he applied his own tourniquet to the leg.

Officials said that the actions of the friends and Miller likely saved Hornback’s life.

Hornback was flown, via medical helicopter, to a Ft Wayne hospital.

Neither Riley nor Hornback was wearing a seat belt and Miller said that he believes their injuries would have been reduced had they been properly restrained.

The crash is currently under investigation and Miller was assisted at the scene by Indiana State Police Sgt. Rick Brown and the Royal Center Fire Department.

All Indiana State Police officers are issued tourniquets as part of their duty gear and officers train annually on applying them properly.