A trucker has been recognized for his actions at the scene of an accident involving another tractor-trailer.
The Truckload Carriers Association has named James Brown, a professional driver for Melton Truck Lines, a Highway Angel for his actions following a serious crash near Little Rock, Arkansas.
TCA explains:
James BrownOn the morning of May 22 at approximately 6 a.m., Brown was driving through torrential rain about 40 miles east of Little Rock when he witnessed another truck lose control.
“It was raining pretty hard that day,” Brown recalled. “My visibility was probably 25 to 30 feet from my truck. I had slowed down to about 50 or 55 because in that kind of weather, you should be.”
As Brown watched, the truck sped past him before leaving the roadway and overturning.
“I thought he was going to keep it upright,” Brown said. “But when he came back onto the asphalt, I figured he overcorrected. The truck slid about 65 to 75 feet.”
Brown safely pulled his truck to the shoulder and ran to the wrecked vehicle. As he helped the driver escape, he noticed a piece of metal lodged in the man’s leg.
“Before I could tell him, ‘Don’t pull that out,’ he pulled it out,” Brown said.
The object had severed a major artery, causing severe bleeding. Drawing on skills he learned during 12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Brown immediately took action.
“I had battlefield medical training,” he said. “I cut a seatbelt up, and we made a tourniquet and got it on his leg.”
Brown’s quick thinking slowed the blood loss and stabilized the injured driver until emergency responders arrived.
“He was conscious when I got there,” Brown said. “By the time I got the tourniquet on, he was still conscious, but he wasn’t making much sense. He had lost quite a bit of blood.”
Brown believes the tourniquet made the critical difference.
“With an injury like that, you’ve got about 90 seconds before somebody bleeds out,” he said. “Had we not done something, he’d have been dead by the time help got there.”
After first responders arrived, Brown remained at the scene for nearly two hours, providing witness statements and assisting investigators before continuing on to complete his delivery.
“If that had been me in that truck, I would hope somebody would stop and help,” he said. “My wife, my children—I’d hope somebody would stop and do the same for them.”
James Brown
