A quick-thinking truck driver saved a fellow driver’s life.
On the morning of May 11, 2015, Joseph Wiggins was traveling north on I-95 near St. Augustine, Florida when traffic came to a stop on the roadway because of a fatality. Two hours later, Wiggins pulled up next to another truck on the highway.
Wiggins looked into the cab of the other truck and noticed the truck’s passenger collapse and fall forward in his seat. He then saw the truck’s driver shake his co-driver.
Wiggins jumped out of his truck and rushed over to the truck to help. He climbed into the truck and found the collapsed passenger on the floor between the seats.
Wiggins felt for a pulse and checked to see if the man was breathing. He was not.
Another motorist and Wiggins pulled the unconscious man from the cab and carried him to the grassy median, where Wiggins began CPR.
As Wiggins performed CPR, another motorist, who was a nurse, began assisting Wiggins with the CPR.
Fifteen minutes later, fire rescue arrived on the scene and took over CPR. They shocked the man several times and were able to regain a pulse.
The man was airlifted to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. The man later made a full recovery. Had Wiggins not responded to the man’s medical crisis, the man likely would have died at the scene.
Wiggins and the man have spoken several times since the incident.
Before becoming a truck driver, Wiggins was in law enforcement.
Reflecting on the incident, Wiggins said, “I always take the same route and that day I decided to take a different one. There was a reason I was on that highway May 11th. He thinks I saved him but honestly he saved me.”
For his heroic efforts, Wiggins has been awarded the TCA’s Highway Angel award.