12 Truck Drivers Named Regional Goodyear Highway Heroes
18 January 1999
12 Truck Drivers Named Regional Goodyear Highway Heroes
AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 18 -- Twelve truck drivers representing
11 states and provinces are one step closer to being named the 1998 Goodyear
National Highway Hero, Goodyear announced today. Founded by Goodyear in 1983,
the National Highway Hero program recognizes professional truck drivers and
the oftentimes unnoticed, life-saving rescues and roadside assistance they
provide as their jobs take them across the country.
Among this year's regional finalists are hometown heroes who have risked
their own safety to pull helpless victims from burning vehicles, performed
life-saving first aid and, in some cases, gave their lives while aiding others
in need.
Capturing regional-level honors, this group was selected by an independent
agency from the 23 state winners. The 12 regional finalists are:
Larry Miller, Tucson, Ariz. -- Making his way through a downpour in
Nashville, Tenn., Miller found himself barreling toward an accident scene with
no space or time to stop. With three disabled vehicles and their operators in
his path, Miller veered his truck to avoid the defenseless victims, sending
him into a collision with a concrete barrier. While preventing certain
catastrophe, Miller, fortunately, only suffered minor injuries.
Lynn Tracey, Chilliwack, British Columbia -- Just after nightfall on June
22 of last year, Tracey happened upon an accident victim who had been thrown
from his truck. She cleared the air passages of the badly disfigured and
unconscious victim to restore regular breathing. Tracey prevented the motorist
from going into shock as she monitored his vital signs until medical help
arrived from more than 20 miles away.
Paul Ostoich, Cottonwood, Calif. -- Traveling across a bridge on a flooded
county road in Red Bluff, Calif., Ostoich passed safely through danger only to
find a fellow motorist had not fared as well. He returned to the waist-high
floodwaters to rescue the stranded victim as the current, fueled by an erupted
dam, threatened to sweep them both away. Ostoich gathered up the hysterical
woman only moments before the swift waters carried her car downstream.
Gilles Heroux, Maranja, Fla. -- Traveling through Titusville, Fla., on a
mail run to Miami, Heroux was the first on the scene of a wrecked tractor
trailer that had exploded and flipped over, trapping its driver. Heroux pulled
the driver from the fiery wreckage through the truck's smashed windshield.
With the help of another motorist, he was able to move the victim to safety
before the truck exploded a second time.
Kelly Pate, Evansville, Ind. -- Traveling with his wife on a rainy evening
near Daytona Beach, Fla., Pate witnessed as a driver ahead lost control of her
vehicle, rolling it several times. The driver escaped relatively unharmed, so
Pate and two other motorists set about trying to roll the vehicle back onto
its wheels. As the four stood on the median, an unwary motorist failed to
yield to the stopped traffic, lost control of her vehicle and struck the four
people and the wrecked vehicle. Pate died later that evening from his
injuries, leaving behind his young bride and 2-year-old daughter.
William Basner II, Harbor Beach, Mich. -- Alerted by another driver that
there had been an accident, Basner arrived at the scene to find a wrecked
truck on fire with its passengers trapped inside. He extinguished the flames,
and with a police officer's help, removed the two passengers. The driver had
died on impact.
Wayne Carpenter, Keene, N.H. -- Carrying a load of cargo through Durham,
N.H., Carpenter witnessed a head-on collision between a car and truck in which
both vehicles erupted in flames. The driver of the truck and a passenger in
the car managed to free themselves from their fiery traps, but the driver of
the car was unconscious. Unable to control the quickly spreading fires,
Carpenter proceeded to pull the driver from the car and to safety. Despite
Carpenter's efforts and risking his own life, the driver was pronounced dead
at the scene.
Jamie Pritchard, Elk Park, N.C. -- Pritchard, carrying his family home
down I-81 near Marion, Va., saw a truck bump a car into a guardrail; its cargo
-- a mother and four children. Seeing smoke coming from the car's engine,
Pritchard left his family sleeping in his rig to assist the victims. Calming
them, he checked for injuries and explained to the little girl in the
passenger seat that he was going to carry her to the safety of his truck.
Lifting her, he glanced over his shoulder to see another vehicle heading
toward them. Pritchard shoved the child back into the car, but was struck
himself and killed instantly.
Michael Thatcher, Stillwater, Okla. -- On a cold and windy Dec. 4, 1997,
morning, Thatcher happened upon an accident scene that appeared to have no
victim. After further examining the scene, he found a young driver, semi-
frozen on the side of the road. He wrapped her in his coat, keeping her warm
until the ambulance arrived one hour later.
Mark Savarie and Michael Asselin, Markstay, Ontario -- Arriving in their
trucks shortly after another rig slammed into a rock cut on Highway 17 in
Sudbury, Ontario, Savarie and Asselin set to dousing flames while freeing the
driver. Realizing the rig was transporting explosives, Savarie quickly
retrieved his first aid kit and tended to the driver's most serious injuries.
He then moved his partner's truck out of harm's way, using it to create a
barricade to prevent other drivers from approaching too closely to the
volatile scene. The rig exploded, destroying Savarie's new truck, which was
still parked nearby. Although debris was thrown nearly two miles from the
scene, no one was injured in the explosion.
James Rowlett, Sandyville, W.Va. -- Seeing smoke and fire, Rowlett left
his rig and raced to an accident scene where a car had been severely rear-
ended, leaving the passengers dazed. With the help of two other truckers,
Rowlett doused the flames and fought through hot glass and steel to rescue the
five passengers trapped in the mangled wreckage. While the five-month-old girl
traveling in the back seat managed to survive, her mother was pronounced dead
at the scene.
Later this month, four finalists will be selected from the 12 Regional
Highway Heroes. The finalists and their spouses will be Goodyear's guests for
an all-expenses paid trip March 24-28 to Louisville, Ky., where they will be
introduced at the Mid-America Trucking Show, and Nashville, Tenn., where the
1998 Goodyear National Highway hero will be announced on "The Nashville
Network's Prime Time Country" television program.