An accident almost ended in tragedy last week, but a seven-month-old baby is alive today thanks to the heroic actions and quick thinking of a truck driver.
It was Friday night when Andre Harris saw a plume of smoke on Highway 171 outside Tuscaloosa, AL. About 60 yards down the hill was a car which had flipped upside-down.
“I noticed a pair of headlights and as I got closer, I saw a flame coming up from between the engine compartment and the firewall,” Harris said according to Tuscaloosa News. “I noticed a lady running up, so I popped on the beacons and asked if anyone was in the car.”
The lady was 23-year-old Alexus Jenkins who had swerved while trying to avoid hitting a deer. And inside the car was her 7-month-old son.
“I was screaming, I was asking him to please get my baby out of the car,” Jenkins said. “I had gotten him unhooked from the car seat, but I wasn’t able to pull him out.”
Harris says he hardly knows what happens next.
“Next thing I knew, I was down the hill trying to bust the glass with my hand,” he said. “I got it broken and was reaching in the car, literally fumbling around. I couldn’t see because of the smoke. I felt a tiny leg and just started pulling.”
Harris was able to get the baby out of the car. He pulled both the baby and Jenkins up the hill to get them out of the way in case there was an explosion.
“We got to the top of the hill, I looked back and the whole compartment where the baby had been was engulfed in flames. It wasn’t until the adrenaline wore off that I’d realized what happened.”
His friends and coworkers have been calling him a hero, but Harris says that he’s just happy to have been in the right place at the right time.
“If we’re put in a position to be a blessing to someone I think we should take the opportunity,” said Harris.
Source: gobytrucknews, tuscaloosanews, yellowhammernews, cbs17
Awesome! Way to go Andre
Well done driver and its blessing to have you as a fellow trucker #GOLDMOUTHGONEBACKTRUCKING
Always great to hear people helping each other.
I think the Almighty directs our lives and He used you to help this child and his mother. And no matter what life throws at you…..you can take pride in what you did. You saved a life, maybe two. God bless you Brother.
What a wonderful story. I think the everyday stress of everything a driver goes through can make us show a dark side but when it comes to the safety and non selfishness to save another , our love and caring shines through. It takes a special type of person to become a true trucker,. This is a side that not enough people get a chance to witness.
3 comments for an heroic tale. Saved a life!!
But if the baby grows up to become the director of the FMCSA…
Luis lets think positive… baby will be truckdriver!))
Andre Harris: a REAL hero!!!