An injured trucker is on a desperate search for his dog following a serious accident in Virginia last month.
According to NBC 12, on Tuesday, January 30th, truck driver Terry Galambos and his dog Toby were traveling east on Interstate 64 in Henrico, Virginia when he lost control, overturning his rig and trapping him inside.
“I was tired at the time and wanted to stop at a rest area, but I felt like I needed to keep going,” Galambos told NBC-12.
“It was just like I was zoning out and when I came to it was on an exit ramp, going way too fast for the speed, and then just rolled the truck. I never wrecked a truck in my life, ’til this one, and I did a doozy,” he added.
Galambos was stuck inside of his wrecked rig for around an hour as emergency crews worked to cut him from his cab, and the commotion spooked the small dog, who evaded animal control and ran off into the night.
Galambos was charged with reckless driving and suffered numerous lacerations requiring stitches, as well as broken facial and sinus bones, a broken collar bone, five broken rubs and a bruised lung, forcing him to spend a week in the hospital. However, now that Galambos has returned home to Georgia to recover, his attention has turned to the well-being of his over-the-road companion, the 4-year-old Shih Tzu terrier mix.
In the days following the accident, Henrico Animal Control says that they received multiple calls regarding sightings of the pup, but that he has still not been found.
“That’s somebody that rides in the truck with me, keeps me company, you’re in there by yourself for hours, days on end,”Galambos said.
“He was an excellent dog… I wish he was here.”
The Galambos family says that family, friends, and co-workers in the Henrico area are keeping an eye out for the dog, but haven’t found him yet. At the time of the wreck, Toby was wearing a collar with his name and a phone number and was microchipped.
Henrico Animal Control is urging anyone who sees Toby not to try and catch him, as that may scare him further, but to promptly contact animal control officers at 804-501-5000.
