Goodyear Names Annual Highway Hero
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jason Harte, an owner-operator from Rogers, Ark., who works with Sammons Trucking, was named the 30th Goodyear Highway Hero.
Harte is credited for rescuing a family of six last July from a minivan following a multi vehicle accident.
As bystanders on the scene provided assistance to the other vehicles, Harte dialed 911 and then helped all six people out of the crushed minivan, including a six-month-old baby and three other children.
Harte, a former paramedic, performed first aid and also pulled apart seats and cut seatbelts to rescue one remaining child. He also worked with rescue crews arriving to speed assistance to the injured.
“Jason’s decision to offer assistance is a powerful example of the selflessness exhibited by professional truck drivers. Because of his actions, lives, in all probability, were saved,” said Gary Medalis, director of marketing for Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. “For this, Jason has earned the right to be called a hero.”
Harte received a Highway Hero ring and $5,000 from the company.
The other finalists for this year’s award were:
• Christopher Burgess, an owner-operator from Ravenna, Ohio, who waved his arms and honked his vehicle’s horn to warn others that his truck’s brakes had failed. He successfully navigated down a steep hill, through an intersection and between buildings full of people before his truck struck a tree and dropped into the river below. Burgess died in the accident.
• Chad Dickey of Wadena, Minn., a driver for Tony’s Transfer, who discovered an injured trucker in a ditch after spotting debris on a road near Chattanooga, Tenn. Dickey provided medical assistance to Lewis Boyd until he could be airlifted to a local hospital. Boyd spent more than a month in the hospital recovering.
• David Williams of Angier, N.C., a driver for Schneider National, who stopped to place safety cones around a disabled car in Wilmington, N.C., during a heavy rainstorm. As he started directing traffic away from the cones, a pickup truck slammed into Williams’ truck. Immediately, Williams then shifted gears, pulling a passenger from the burning pickup truck and then helped to extinguish the flames.
