Jaime Avitia, a truck driver for Stagecoach Cartage & Distribution, LP, of El Paso, Texas, has been named a Truckload Carriers Association Highway Angel for helping an accident victim.

On Aug. 31, Avitia was driving on I-10 near Balmorhea, Texas. Beneath him was Highway 17, which connects to I-10 via a service road and dead-ends into a dirt parking lot.

Avitia noticed a pickup truck below him speeding toward the dead-end. It left the roadway, hit a concrete drainage culvert nose-first, flipped into the air and landed upright. Avitia stopped his truck and ran down the embankment toward the wreck.

The driver had not been wearing a seatbelt and was thrown into the back seat, with his bleeding head hanging halfway out the back window. Unable to find a pulse, Avitia administered CPR on the man.

After four chest compressions, the man finally coughed and began to breathe. Avitia pulled him into the front seat and wrapped a towel around his neck for stability. After about a half hour, paramedics transported the driver to a hospital.

“That particular night, my load was ready early, and I had almost stopped at a truck stop to get coffee, but decided not to because the line was too long,” Avitia said. “Maybe I was supposed to be there at that exact time to help that guy. I’m just very thankful that I could.”