A trucker’s life was potentially saved by a fellow trucker in Texas Wednesday after the driver pulled the man from his burning rig.
The accident happened the morning of August 1st in Tornillo, Texas.
According to K Fox 14, truck driver Bryan Mitchell was traveling along Interstate 10 near the Tornillo exit when he saw a semi truck veer off road, break through a guardrail, go down an embankment, and crash into the pillars of a bridge.
Mitchell then pulled over to the side of the interstate where another trucker was already pulled over and the two rushed down to try to help the wrecked truck driver.
“I seen a big ol’ cloud of dust from the west side and seen this truck go through the guard rail, slam into the bridge, do an end-over and the back end went up and over the cab,” Mitchell said.
“We found the driver hanging halfway out of the cab. He hadn’t been wearing a seat belt. His left leg was caught up and pinned in the truck. So we started working to get him out… Just when we got him out, the truck started to burn, we picked him up and started to run toward the westbound lanes of the bridges,” Mitchell continued.
“As we were taking him, the truck ignited and the fuel tanks blew… My adrenaline was going and I didn’t think much of it,” added Mitchell, who has had previous emergency training as a firefighter and as a Marine.
The unnamed truck driver was then transported to the Del Sol Medical Center, where he has been listed in stable condition.
“Most people don’t want to get involved. If it was me in that truck that wrecked, I’d want someone to get me out of there,” Mitchell said.