Benefit held to help Pasco deputy injured in the line of duty
The Brief
Pasco Deputy Buddy Allman was injured while alerting people to rising water during Hurricane Milton.
He spent several weeks in the hospital in a medically-induced coma.
The type of injury he suffered only allows him to collect 66 percent of his pay.
PASCO COUNTY, Fla. - More help could be on the way for law enforcement officers injured in the line of duty across the state. The Deputy Andy Lahera Act, named after critically injured Citrus County Deputy Lahera, would help financially cover law enforcement officers injured in the line of duty.
On Saturday, a benefit event for injured Pasco Deputy Buddy Allman was held at the Rotary Concourse Pavillion in Spring Hill.
On October 18 last year, Allman was riding in a Humvee to urge people to evacuate as the Withlacoochee River crested from Hurricane Milton. He said, "I was in a Humvee driving up and down the roads. We had a big speaker up on top of it which would project the sound letting people know that the waters were rising." The asphalt under his and his partner collapsed.
He explained, "The vehicle went down and, on its side, and I couldn't get my door open because of the way that the vehicle lodged itself in there."
Roaring floodwater poured inside. "Within seconds it was all the way up to my mouth," he added, "I tried to take one last breath and when I did, I was sucking in some water."
Allman's partner safely escaped. While bystanders sprang into action to rescue him. He said, "They gave me a two percent chance of survival when I left out of Dade City in the helicopter."
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For the next 3.5 weeks, Allman was in a medically induced coma. He said, "It was touch and go at the hospital for three weeks because I was on the highest level on the machines that they would take there in order to save my life."
On November 27, he was released from the hospital. But to this day, he's coping with a host of issues.
"I've got torn rotator cuffs on both sides, I've got a traumatic brain injury from losing oxygen that won't get any better," he said, "I've got neuropathy from my knee to my hips on both legs."
All proceeds from the event on Saturday were donated to the family. But they say with more surgeries to come, they're concerned about bills. He said, "In Florida, if you get hurt in the line of duty, and you were not chasing a fleeing felon, or you weren't shot, you only get 66 percent of your pay."
Right now, full coverage eligibility only extends to law enforcement officers injured in "fresh pursuits, an emergency, or an unlawful act committed by another."
The Deputy Andy Lahera Act would expand employer-paid health insurance to cover law enforcement, correctional, and correctional probation officers who are injured during an official training exercise or in the line of duty. The act currently sits at Governor Ron DeSantis' desk awaiting to be signed into law.
The Source
FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis gathered the information for this story.
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