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"I ended up with a couple of cracked ribs and stuff like that however I'm still here," said Underwood.

At the time, he was working for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as a member of the S.W.A.T Team.

"I was trying to hold him to get him cuffed, and he reached over my shoulder and grabbed the back of my vest and pulled me down on him and at the same time stuck the gun to my chest," said the Sheriff.

Underwood was then shot at point blank range with a .40 caliber pistol.

Physically, he was sore for only four days after. However, recooperating mentally, was a different story.

Underwood said,"I wouldn't turn off the lights at home, my senses were so keen that I could acutally hear the motion light on the porch, I could hear it click before the lights came on."

Some law enforcement officers may never even have to draw their weapons, let alone know the feeling of almost taking a bullet.

"They don't think about the fact that this officer has a split second to make a decision and bad guys are not shooting at you just to be warning you or do warning shots, their trying to take officers lives."

This June it will be ten years since Underwood was saved by his vest, and received the DuPont Survivors Award, a plaque that hangs in his office, and serves as another reminder of the day his vest saved his life.