A West Virginia truck driver is being called a hero after he died while attempting to rescue the occupants of a crashed pickup truck during a winter storm on Saturday.
The incident took place around 1 a.m in Parkersburg.
Fifty two year old truck driver Scott Banks was driving a Cowen Truck Line semi north on I-77 when he spotted a pickup truck that had crashed off an icy bridge and fallen into a drainage ditch below.
Banks pulled his truck over and got out to see if he could help the pickup driver, who was standing outside of his vehicle.
Then, according to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, a Dodge Durango transporting seven people hit an icy patch on the bridge, went airborne off the side of the bridge, and grazed the crashed pickup before hitting Banks.
Banks was transported to the hospital, where he died hours later.
“He was trying to be a good guy. Just the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Sergeant B. A. Pickens
The pickup truck driver and four of the Durango occupants were taken to the hospital for treatment of non life threatening injuries.
Banks was a truck driver for most of his working life and is said to have often stopped to help other drivers.
Sources:
WMFD
The Mansfield News Journal