Happy Driver Appreciation Week!
Undeniably, all truckers are inspiring. With an average of 240 nights on the road every year, truckers sacrifice their time to keep the nation running.
In an ocean of incredible drivers, a few have further distinguished themselves as heroes.
To celebrate Driver Appreciation Week, here are the most inspiring trucker stories.
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The Chris Delancey Christmas Miracle
Chris Delancey, a truck driver and volunteer firefighter, pulled into a truck stop at 4 am the day after Christmas. He heard frantic screaming from a vehicle nearby as he brought his truck to a halt.
He exited his truck to discover two parents, both inconsolably panicked, standing over their daughter in a booster seat. They desperately cried, “She’s not breathing!”
Chris instinctively ran to the family and took charge, calling on his experience as a firefighter. He inspected the girl’s airways using a flashlight to find them clear. He shone a light in the girl’s pupils, but they remained motionless. The situation had become dire.
Chris removed the little girl from her booster seat and began CPR. He instructed the girl’s father to breathe as hard as he could into her mouth while he performed chest compressions. Despite their best efforts, she remained unresponsive.
Teetering between life and death, Chris stared at the young girl and saw something familiar. For a moment, he observed his own daughter’s face in the face of this girl—a daughter he had lost to sudden infant death syndrome at just 18 months old. A new wave of determination overcame him.
Chris worked until the ambulance arrived. Then, a miracle occurred. Suddenly, the girl took a breath and whispered, “Daddy.” Her pulse was weak, but present. Chris delicately carried the girl to the ambulance, returned to his truck, and wept.
He did for this girl what he could not do for his own daughter. He remarked, “I believe there’s divine intervention all around us.”
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The Jeffrey Schmidt Highway Rescue
As Jeffrey Schmidt made his way home, he noticed cars pulling over and exiting near a roundabout. A group of people was surrounding an overturned semi-truck.
As Jeffrey came closer, he observed broken glass and billowing smoke. Suddenly, the truck burst into flames. The driver inside the car was screaming for help.
Jeffrey rushed to the cabin and began kicking windows with all his might, but they wouldn’t give. “No cracks, no chips, no nothing like that,” Jeffrey recalled. Fortunately, one of the onlookers had a hammer. Jeffrey smashed the tool through the window, the new opening hissing with a release of heat and smoke.
As Jeffrey entered the cab, molten truck fluid fell onto his legs, burning him badly. He reached through shards of glass, great gashes forming as he pressed further. The heat was beginning to blister his hands. Still, he pushed forward.
With the help of another bystander, both pulled the driver out of the cabin. Burns covered most of his body. Despite his awful condition, the driver survived with Jeffrey to thank. They eventually became great friends.
Jeffrey later recalled, “Just as much as this gentleman’s thankful for me, I’m thankful for that day as well, because it did save me too, and really changed my trajectory in life”.
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Ron Ross’s Abduction Interference
Ron Ross was taking a routine rest break in rural Tennessee when he noticed something unusual: a young woman running through the grass with shoes in her hands.
Ron watched the girl run another quarter mile before diving into the woods. A few moments later, a man appeared to chase her and enter the same wooded area. “It scared me,” Ron remembers. “I went and called 911.”
A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper was on the scene only five minutes later. The officer secured the young woman and discovered that she had been held captive by the man. Thanks to Ron’s quick thinking, she was saved.
Later, Ron discovered the woman had been transported across several state lines. Using footage captured on Ron’s dashcam, investigators had substantive evidence for the captor’s prosecution.
Ron was later named a TCA Highway Angel for his heroic actions and willingness to risk his life in a precarious situation.
Truckers make daily life possible. Through tremendous sacrifice, drivers give their time and energy to keep the supply chain moving. Occasionally, some heroes will go above and beyond to demonstrate remarkable courage, cementing their legacy as legends.
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