Hundreds gather in honor of trucker killed in overturned rig
Friends and family of a truck driver killed in a wreck gathered in his honor over the weekend.
35-year-old Baljot “Bally” Singh Badyal died in a single rig crash in Natomas, California on December 16th, and his friends and family gathered at the crash site on Sunday, December 19th to celebrate his life.
According to Fox 40 News, Badyal’s truck was the only vehicle involved in the crash and it’s still unclear what exactly caused him to leave the roadway, but friends and family gathered near the Del Paso on ramp to northbound Interstate 5 regardless, standing amongst the debris left over from the wreck.
“He would have done anything for anybody. He was the nicest soul in the world,” said friend Jagdeep Chima.
“I have had death in the family, and nothing’s hit like this, nothing at all,” Chima said.
“He’s a Sacramento legend. Graduated Natomas High School in 2005, he made it shine out there. You’ll have never seen a Punjabi dude dunk like Bally,” said Badyal’s nephew, Ravnoor Gill.
“He had a different type of love and a different type of energy.”
“This guy was telling me that he went to India like three years ago and the driver of the car they hired saw that he passed away and was devastated, ‘oh, he still texts me.’ That’s the type of guy he was,” explained Badyal’s cousin, Sunny Badyal.
“He showed me more love than my own older brother,” Chima continued. “The last words he told me, ‘Chima, you need to stop being a truck driver, and you need to be a professional photographer because that’s your niche,’ and he said, ‘I haven’t found mine yet, but you need to do that.’ The next day I went and quit my job, and I am going to make it happen for him.”
“Everyone has a purpose in this life and his purpose was to connect with as many people as he could, and help them with their problems and put a smile on their face,” Sunny Badyal said.
“Always show positivity. That’s what my (uncle) did,” Gill added.
Sacramento police say that the investigation into the crash is ongoing, but there is not new information to share at this time.