Company drivers Scott Wagner and Robert Barnette didn’t hesitate to lend Shannon Currier a helping hand. (Image Courtesy of Truckload Carriers Association)Four truck drivers recently earned their Highway Angel wings for helping others in need, including their fellow drivers and other trucking industry colleagues. Each new Highway Angel received a certificate, patch, lapel pin, and truck decals.
Two drivers honored for helping stranded colleague
Two company drivers have earned their Highway Angel wings from the Truckload Carriers Association for coming to the aid of Shannon Currier, the director of philanthropy and development for trucking non-profit St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund.
Currier had become stranded on her way to the Mid-America Trucking Show in March after she got a flat tire. Currier knew she would be delayed getting to the truck show and placed some calls to give her colleagues a heads up. One of the people she called was Scott Wagner of Spartan Direct, a driver ambassador for the St. Christopher Fund, who was already at the show. Wagner grabbed Robert Barnette, an owner-operator with Swift Transportation, and the two took Barnette’s truck and drove 38 miles to help Currier. Barnette took the flat tire off Currier’s vehicle and put on the spare tire. He and Wagner then followed Currier to a nearby Walmart so she could have a new tire installed. The two men stayed with her another two hours while they waited for the new tire.
“Scott and Robert knew the danger I was in being a female out there alone,” Currier said. “I don’t know how long I would have had to sit on the side of the road waiting for help or waiting for our AAA to be reinstated and then for a driver to come help me.”
Wagner agreed, saying, “You’re in the line of danger no matter how far off the road you are. And she wasn’t near an exit. We let her know we’d come and rescue her.”
Doron Doravi (Image Courtesy of Truckload Carriers Association)Driver named Highway Angel for rescuing fellow trucker
Diamond Transportation System driver Doron Doravi, of Phoenix, Arizona, has been named one of the Truckload Carriers Association’s latest Highway Angels after he stopped to aid a fellow trucker after a rollover accident.
Doravi, an owner-operator, was driving from Fargo, North Dakota, to Amarillo, Texas, on May 3 in the southbound lane of Highway 81. He saw an overturned tractor-trailer stretched across the two northbound lanes and the center grass median. The truck appeared to have lost control while approaching a curve. Doravi pulled to the shoulder and, with the help of another trucker who had stopped, climbed into the truck cab, cut the shaken but safe driver from his seat, and helped the man out of the cab. Doravi is a former reserve firefighter and EMT.
“This is something to learn from,” Doravi said. “I don’t know what happened (that day). But if you’re carrying a heavy load you go slower. If you’re tired you need to find a safe spot to take a nap.”
Richard Shearer (Image Courtesy of Truckload Carriers Association)Trucker performs CPR on fellow driver
After responding to a call for help and administering CPR to a fellow driver, Hirschbach Motor Lines driver Richard Shearer of Haysville, Kansas, has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association.
Shearer was at an unloading bay in March at Walmart in Mebane, North Carolina, when he heard a scream and ran to investigate. He found a trucker’s wife screaming for help because her husband was unconscious and unresponsive on the ground. Shearer performed CPR until paramedics arrived. The man was revived but died a short time later.
“I worked on him as hard as I could,” Shearer said “I went back to my truck, feeling defeated. It hurts whether you know the person or not; it’s another human being.”
Shearer is an Army veteran who served two tours overseas. Shearer feels he didn’t do anything heroic on that day, but he hopes he can be an example to others to get involved when someone needs help.
“No matter what you can do, just do it,” he said. “My hat is off to first responders who deal with this every day. They find a way to go home and live their lives. Put your phone down, stop recording, and do what you can to help. You have the chance to make a difference. I did what I could to help but the good Lord said it was his time.”
