Off-duty Durham EMS paramedic saves woman's life

DURHAM, NC (WTVD) -- A good Samaritan turned local hero after helping a woman whose arm was severed during a crash in Durham.

That same crash took her mother-in-law's life.

Turns out that good Samaritan was a Durham EMS paramedic.

If you ask Christopher Langdon what happened last Friday morning, when he used the emergency tourniquet in his car to stop Cassandra Moseley's bleeding - he'll tell you he was just doing his job.

It all happened after a pickup careened off an exit and across lanes, striking multiple vehicles, and taking the life of 70-year-old Frances Moseley, a passenger in Cassandra Moseley's SUV.

Paramedic Corp. Langdon said he was driving, on his way to work, when he smelled burned rubber in the air. Firefighters were just arriving.

He said the doors to Moseley's SUV were jammed, Cassandra was bleeding out from her severed arm, trapped in the driver's seat and crying for help to save Frances.

As soon as firefighters pried the doors open, Langdon knew he had to move fast.

Although Frances was mortally wounded in the crash, the Moseley family said the tourniquet Langdon applied to Cassandra's arm prevented a second family tragedy - and saved her life.

In an exclusive interview with ABC11, the family put out a call to find the heroic man.

Durham County EMS lauded Langdon's good deed on Facebook - but the man who didn't hesitate to help says he's no hero.

"I was just doing my job," Langdon said. "It's what I do. It's what I love. If it wasn't for all the help I had on scene, I wouldn't have been able to do it effectively."