FENTON, La. (KLFY) – A Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff’s deputy has been credited with saving the life of a 20-year-old woman who was trapped underneath an SUV and drowning underneath.

The incident happened around 5:30 a.m. on LA Highway 102 near Fenton, La.

Investigators believe the woman was ejected out of the rear window as the vehicle rolled over several times before stopping in a ditch.

Commander Christopher Ivey said Deputy Brock Hymel was the first to arrive on the scene and found the SUV overturned on its side.

“You couldn’t see anything from her neck up. It was completely submerged in water,” Deputy Brock Hymel told KLFY’s Carly Laing.

“When I stepped out of my unit I could hear one of the occupants calling for help. She didn’t want her friend to down (in the ditch).”

Hymel saw the female passenger was trapped underneath the vehicle and was lying face down, drowning in a ditch.

He then crawled under the SUV, dug the woman out of the mud and pulled her out from underneath the vehicle.

“I had to get in the ditch, crawl around through the ditch, dug around her, clear her airways and then I had to grasp underneath her to pull her out,” Hymel said.

Commander Ivey said Hymel realized the woman was “not breathing and her airways were blocked with mud. Deputy Hymel cleared her nose and mouth of debris and she began breathing on her own.”

Sgt. James Anderson, of Louisiana State Police Troop D, said driver fatigue is suspected to be a factor in the crash.

Both the driver and passenger were ticketed for failing to wear a seatbelt. The driver was also ticketed for careless operation of a vehicle.

The woman was airlifted from the scene by Air Med to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.

The driver of the SUV was transported by Acadian Ambulance to the hospital.

A spokesperson for the hospital told KLFY the passenger is currently stable condition.

Louisiana State Police are still investigating the crash.