Richland deputy meets man for first time after rescuing him from flood

When Archie Lee found himself trapped in his car as flood water poured down Killian Road, the Richland County resident prayed for an angel.

The answer to his prayer came with a badge instead of wings, in the form of a Richland County deputy.

Lee got to meet his rescuer last week for the first time since the floods. The rescue took less than an hour. But the thanks, for Lee, will last a lifetime.

Lee brought the deputy a card. Inside it read, “I appreciate you more than words can say.”

Lee was on his way to Sunday morning service at Brookland Baptist Church on Oct. 4 when heavy rain forced him to turn around. On the way back, on a stretch of road between Wal-Mart and Wilson Boulevard, his car hit water and the engine died.

The 63-year-old called his fiancee, who called the Columbia Fire Department. As the water continued to rise, Sgt. Chris Duke with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department happened to find Lee while on patrol looking for flooded roads.

“I was so scared and nervous, and I kept praying that the Lord would send an angel, and he sent him to get me out of that car,” Lee said.

THE RESCUE

Cops don’t generally train for water rescues, Duke said, and he waited about 15 minutes for the fire department to respond. But the firefighters were occupied elsewhere and the water continued to rise.

Duke reparked his car and used it to block traffic. Lee called his fiancee, thinking the sergeant was leaving the scene.

“I got on the phone and started telling (her), ‘He’s leaving, there’s nobody to help me (or) get me out,’” Lee said.

But Duke came back. Leaving his cellphone and stun gun in his patrol car, the 35-year-old sergeant made his way downhill to a car that stood between him and Lee. He checked the vehicle, only to find it abandoned. One step at a time, walking in such a way the abandoned car broke the flood’s current, he made his way to Lee.

“There were things in that water that made me sick for a while after the flood,” Duke said. “I had to get shots afterward ... because of the bacterial stuff that was in the water. But at the time, I wasn’t worried about what was in the water – just that something big was going to knock me down, because I was really duck-stepping to make sure I didn’t lose my footing.”

At its highest point, the water rose to the sergeant’s chest. When Duke opened Lee’s car door to get him out, water flooded the vehicle.

With Duke’s arm wrapped around Lee’s waist, the two made their way to dry ground. The short journey took about 15 minutes, Duke said.

Within another 15 minutes, Lee’s fiancee had picked him up, and another deputy had picked up Duke. The whole ordeal lasted less than an hour.

But Lee escaped a fate that killed many others. That night and the next day, Richland County officials found nine people dead in their vehicles.

THE AFTERMATH

After the rescue, Duke went home and slept about four or five hours, he said. The flood capped off what was already a difficult time. The day before, he had served as honor guard commander during the funeral of fallen Forest Acres police officer Greg Alia.

“Having that happen, and then we were slammed with (the flood) – it was not a good week for the good guys,” Duke said.

In honor of saving Lee, the American Legion Post 193 presented Duke recently with the 2015 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award. He also received the S.C. Sheriffs’ Association Life Saving Award and the organization’s Medal of Valor.

The flood rescue wasn’t the first time Duke saved a life that year. In July, he and another deputy prevented a man from jumping from the Broad River Road overpass onto Interstate 20. They received the Life Saving Award and the Medal of Valor for that as well.

For his actions in June and October, Duke was selected by the sheriff’s department as the 2015 Deputy of the Year. He also received the Life Saving Award in 2008, for preventing a man who was cutting himself from committing suicide.

THE MEN

After the two went their separate ways, Duke didn’t ask the name of the man he saved – and Lee didn’t ask who had pulled him out of the flooded car.

But after the flood, Lee got curious, and wanted to thank his unknown rescuer. He called the sheriff’s department, which passed his message along to Duke. The two men didn’t meet face-to-face again, though, until a Wednesday interview with The State newspaper.

Both men grew up in the Midlands. Lee was born and raised in Richland County, where he still lives. He spent his life trucking, and retired last year. He got engaged in 2013.

Duke was born and raised in West Columbia. He spent time in the Boy Scouts, and knew from childhood that he wanted to be a cop. He said he’s spiritual, but doesn’t go to church every Sunday.

“I’ve seen good and bad,” Duke said. “I know evil exists, and I know good men and good women exist. That was my goal – to be one of the good ones.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 1:40 PM.