A truck driver helped to rescue a toddler ejected from a car after a serious accident in Delaware late last month.
Joe Hylton, a truck driver of two years, was traveling along Route 1 in Delaware recently when he drove through the scene of a serious accident and noticed a man running down the highway, looking frantic.
Hylton pulled over and got out to help. As he was directing traffic around the wreck, one of the men involved in the accident screamed, and said his daughter was missing from the backseat.
“I see a frantic father running around. He’s looking in the back of his truck and saying ‘I can’t find my daughter, I can’t find my daughter.’ I looked in and I saw an empty car seat in the back of the truck. When I saw the look on his face, I said, ‘Man, I have to do something.’ To look at the empty car seat, your heart just drops,” Hylton said to the Good News Network.
Hylton jumped into action – he grabbed a flashlight and began searching the marshy areas alongside the roadway. Suddenly, Hylton came across a “gray bundle” and was scared of what he might find.
“As I got closer to her, it was like the Lord picked her up,” Hylton said. “She sat herself up and crossed her legs Indian style and stuck her hands up for me to pick her up.”
“I grabbed her and called for the dad, the dad came running over, and we had a hug. We didn’t know each other, I never met him before in my life. But I’ll tell you we knew each other in that moment.”
After the rescue, Hylton and the man parted ways, but his heroic actions did not go unnoticed. A New Jersey Fire Department Battalion Chief who responded to the wreck made sure to recognize Hylton for his heroism by relaying the story to the Delaware State Police, who have since awarded Joe with their ‘Good Samaritan’ Award.
Despite the award, Hylton says he was just doing what was right.
“There is so much craziness going on in the world, I don’t believe in receiving accolades for helping somebody out. That’s what we’re all supposed to do.”
“Most of the time it pays to be calm in those situations. That is the most helpful. Even if you don’t know first aid, if you can just identify where the people are and how to get help to them, that will save a life.”
Great job, driver!