The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named another HIghway Angel. This is one of the top honors a driver can receive. It shows that there are drivers out there that value life over self and are the epitome of what it means to be a professional driver.
After witnessing the crash, Hancock sprang into action
The TCA recently named William Hancock, from Thaxton, Mississippi, a Highway Angel for rescuing four motorists after their vehicle crashed into an overturned tractor-trailer. Hancock drives for Ashley Distribution Services, Ltd., based in Ecru, Mississippi. He is a Million Mile Driver and cancer survivor.
TCA explained the story of what happened that fateful night:
On June 23, Hancock was driving on Interstate 22 outside Fulton, Mississippi around 3:15 a.m. when another tractor-trailer veered off the road and overturned in front of him. A Dodge Challenger came up from behind, did not see the accident, and crashed into the top of the overturned trailer. He immediately pulled over.
“I jumped out of my truck,” Hancock said, noting that there seemed to be smoke coming from the crashed vehicle. “It looked like the inside of the car was on fire. The immediate concern was getting them out of the car.”
There were four passengers in the car, and Hancock proceeded to extract them from the vehicle. He was able to help three passengers out of the car but had trouble with the fourth.
“I went around to open the passenger-side door and it wouldn’t open at all,” he said.
Hancock said the woman sitting in the passenger seat was disoriented from being struck by the vehicle’s inflated airbag. He went back around to the back seat and pulled the woman over the seat and helped her exit out the back door.
Miraculously, there were no serious injuries in the accident.
A trucker for 24 years, Hancock had recently completed cancer treatment and said he didn’t hesitate to stop to help. “If it was my family in that car, I’d hope somebody would stop to help them,” he said.
Since the program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage displayed while on the job.
BackTheTruckUp acknowledges drivers who go above and beyond the call of duty to help others and serve their community.
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