Truck driver Stacey Scott is being called a hero after saving the life of a female driver who crashed into his rig in Longview, Tx.
Scott, a driver for Coastal Chemical Co., said he was traveling west on Interstate 20 near Estes Parkway around 4pm Wednesday, when a pickup carrying oilfield equipment struck his tanker from behind.
“The traffic had stopped, and I was already stopped in the left lane and the lady hit me hard,” he told Longview’s News-Journal. “She never hit the brake, and then her truck almost instantly caught fire.”
According to Scott, the impact had caused the pickup to become pinned under his truck, and when he rushed to help the driver, the woman was stuck and pleading for her life.
“She was just saying ‘Please, don’t let me die; I have children,’ ” Scott said. “Her legs were on fire, and the crash had pinned her body against the steering wheel. I pulled and pulled for two minutes but could not get her free.”
Eventually, with some coaching from Scott, the woman was able to push away from the wheel and “shoot” herself out the back door and onto the ground.
According to Longview Fire Marshal Jonny Zachary, the woman and a passenger in the pickup were taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Interstate 20 was closed for more than an hour as firefighters used foam to extinguish the diesel fire. Zachary said the tanker truck, which was carrying nonflammable “soapy water”, sustained minimal damage.
Scott said he was happy the woman in the pickup was able to escape the truck.
“She had burns on her legs, and and her hands were busted up, but if she had been inside the truck for two more minutes, she probably would not have made it,” he said.
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