In late October, an off-duty Collier County Sheriff’s Office Corrections deputy pulled a truck driver out of a fiery crash on Interstate 75.
The deputy, Joshua Hankinson, was traveling on Interstate 75 when he encountered a tractor-trailer as he drove over the raised overpass.
Two trucks collided at mile marker 166.
As Hankinson came to a stop he quickly ran to check on the drivers of the tractor-trailers. He could see one driver moving around in the cab of his truck trying to escape the crash.
Hankinson forcefully opened the truck door and instructed the driver to get out of the truck. Understandably disoriented from the crash, the driver did not respond. Hankinson then unbuckled the driver’s seat belt and pulled him to safety.
“As I guided him to a safe distance, about 50 feet, the truck became engulfed in flames and a few loud explosions occurred,” Cpl. Hankinson recalled.
Only a few minor injuries were sustained in this crash.
“I do not feel I did anything above what any person with a heart would have done in the same situation,” Cpl. Hankinson said. “It was just simply, in my mind, a moment in time where I made a decision to do what is right in the world.
The contributing causes of this accident are unknown at this time.