A trucker is being hailed as a hero after he helped pull a woman from a burning car and rescue a dog from a second vehicle.
This isn’t the first heroic deed performed by Brian Snell of Merrimack, New Hampshire. After departing the Marine Corp in 1992, the driver worked as a paramedic. When he lost a lung due to his work as a recue worker at Ground Zero on September 11th, 2001, Snell was forced to retire as a paramedic. After that, he became a trucker.
It was nighttime on June 8th of 2018 when Snell was driving on 495 in Westward, MA. Ahead of him, he noticed a car without its headlights on driving the wrong way. He barely had time to notice the car before it spun out and came to a stop directly in front of his truck.
Snell used his truck to block the road, preventing oncoming traffic from hitting the car. He ran over and found a female driver unconscious behind the wheel. Noticing that her engine was on fire, he grabbed an extinguisher from his truck and put out the flames.
Once they were out, Snell heard another bystander yelling nearby and noticed that there was a second car involved in the accident. When Snell reached the vehicle, he could tell that the woman had hit the car head-on. He checked the driver’s vitals, but there was no pulse to find.
“The car had crushed him,” Snell told TCA. “So as hard as it was to leave his side, I ran back to the woman to continue working on her.”
When rescue crews finally arrived and took the woman to a local hospital, Snell stayed to help emergency crews extract the man’s body from his car. Inside, he found an injured dog.
“We got the dog to a vet and they were able to save and return the dog to the man’s family, which they were very happy about,” said Snell.
Despite no longer being a marine or a paramedic, Snell has continued helping people. He started a volunteer fire department, and often stops to help people when he’s on the road.
“I’m like a magnet to this kind of thing. I’ve probably stopped at eight different accidents since I helped save this woman last Summer,” he said. “It’s either a blessing or a curse that I’m around often for this kind of thing. Unfortunately, the world is getting crazier out here, so I’m always alert and help when I’m needed.”
Snell later learned that the woman who he saved was driving drunk.
“It’s devastating to know she killed an innocent man,” he said. “But I also know she will unfortunately now have to pay for that the rest of her life.”
For his heroic actions, Snell has been recognized as a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carrier’s Association. Well done, driver!
Source: TCA, overdrive, gobytrucknews, truckersnews
Steel Horses and Wooden Men says
We need more people like you in this world. From one driver to another, GREAT WORK. PROUD OF YOU.
Tommy Molnar says
It warms my heart to know there are still a few “Knights of the Road” out there.
Jay says
God works in mysterious ways. He put you on the road for a reason. Thank you, and God.
Angelo Macaluso says
Great man!
MICHAEL WHITEHEAD says
I’m proud to say this is one of my trucking brothers! Good job Driver…
You are setting the bar high, where others forgot the bar!
Tom says
This article needs to be corrected, Once a Marine, Always a Marine. With a CAPITAL M.
My friend from the Marines and I were on the freeway coming back from a club one night, and a drunk driver got on the same entrance as us, turned out we were just talking to him and his friend at the club about a half hour before.
….Except he got on the wrong side of the freeway and went head on into traffic. Ended up driving into the center divider and landed right in front of us.
We did the best we could to block traffic and be EMT’s for the day, stopped bleeding on the guy with a broken neck, and the driver was in shock so I consoled him til the paramedics arrived.
Simple choices (no seatbelt, DUI) can have serious consequences!
I’ve been around the USA 80,000 miles so far, and I’ve already seen hundreds of accidents, including half a dozen burning vehicles.
Never been in a situation where I could actually help, except when I first started. Takes too long to stop a truck and usually EMTs are already there. It’s tough tho because you want to help everyone.