Watch: Police trooper saves driver from heroin overdose on the side of a busy highway

Luckily, an ER nurse was driving by at that moment who rushed over to help out

(Image via YouTube)

A police trooper has been hailed a hero after dashcam footage caught him pulling a speeding driver over – and saving the man from a fatal heroin overdose along a busy highway.

In the footage, Trooper Douglas Cropper, of the Maine State Police in the US, pulls-over the driver – who was 15mph over the speed limit – and, taking the man’s documents, returns to his patrol car to fill-out a ticket.

When he goes back to the driver, however, Mr Cropper later described how the man was completely unresponsive with his head tilted back and his mouth wide open.

After frantically trying to wake the driver up, Mr Cropper can be seen dragging the man out of the car and onto the side of the road where he immediately starts to apply chest compressions.

At that moment, an emergency room nurse, Leon Chick, who is driving by, stops and rushes to help the trooper out.

Soon afterwards, the man can be heard making a gurgling noise as the nurse confirms he can feel a pulse again and Mr Cropper can be heard saying: “Welcome back, buddy.”

The man was later taken to hospital, where he recovered, but he is likely to face charges later.

Mr Cropper said he was glad he pulled the man over when he did as the driver could have caused a high-speed crash which could have injured or killed other motorists.

He said: “Who knows how much farther along the road he would have gone and started to overdose, drive off the road and killed himself – or even worse – crashed into someone else, some innocent person going to work?”

Watch the dramatic event unfold:

Some viewers may find the following footage disturbing