The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Joseph Carroll from London, Ont., a TCA Highway Angel for rescuing a trucker after his vehicle crashed and he had been trapped beneath debris. Carroll drives for Elgin Motor Freight out of London.

Carroll was heading north on I-75, just past Wapakoneta, Ohio on March 29, around 5 a.m., when a tractor-trailer hauling lime in front of him lost control. The truck driver blacked out, causing the vehicle to hit the guardrail before a bridge, strike the bridge itself, and then crash through the guardrail into a 12-foot ditch.

“In just a matter of seconds there was gravel all over the highway,” Carroll said. “The transport truck was lying on its side, the lights were dim and there was no roof on the truck.”

He brought his truck to a halt and rushed to the scene. A young woman also stopped to call 911 as Carroll descended into the ditch to assist the truck driver.

“I told her to stay at the top of the ditch because I did not expect to find somebody living,” Carroll said.

Down the embankment, he called out, asking if the driver was okay, and the driver responded, “I’m over here.” The violent crash had torn off the truck’s roof, leaving the driver trapped outside the cab and beneath the debris.

Driver was unhurt

“The truck and trailer were lying on the driver’s side,” Carroll said. “I was floored that someone actually made it through something like that.”

Carroll managed to push the heavy roof off the driver, who was covered with the scattered contents from inside the truck. The driver was unhurt, though visibly shaken and confused by the traumatic event.

“I walked him up to the shoulder of the road — he could walk, he did not have a scratch,” Carroll said. “He was ejected from the truck.”

Carroll and the driver he assisted are still in contact. “I have to help,” he said. “It’s who I am — I don’t care if I’m late for anything!”