Trucker became trapped while trying to help fellow driver escape

A Canadian trucker has been honored for his actions at the scene of a truck crash last November.

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) named truck driver Kingsley Ogieva, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada a TCA Highway Angel for stopping to help a trucker trapped in his rolled vehicle on the highway. Ogieva drives for XTL Transport Inc out of Airdrie, Alberta, Canada.

TCA explains:

Kingsley OgievaOn Nov. 27, 2024, around 7:30 a.m. in Bowden, Alberta, Canada, Ogieva was driving along highway 2. As he traveled, he noticed a tractor-trailer rolled over, blocking nearly the entire southbound highway.

“When I passed through, I saw that the driver was stuck in his truck and wasn’t able to come out,” Ogieva said. “I went to park safely up ahead and I went to assist.”

He approached the wreck and caught sight of the driver, trapped in the overturned truck. The driver was kicking at the windshield, unable to free himself from his truck. Ogieva and another bystander climbed onto the truck and began prying the windshield away to free the driver from the vehicle.

“We tried to look for how to break his windshield so he could come out,” Ogieva said. “While we were trying to get the windshield out, from nowhere we heard a big bang.”

Just then, a cattle hauler struck the truck, which trapped Ogieva. His legs were pinned.

“I was really in pain; I was screaming,” Ogieva said.

While Ogieva was trapped, he saw diesel fuel spilling onto the floor.

“I was screaming, telling everybody they should not smoke or come with anything that could trigger a fire,” he said. Helpless, Ogieva waited for emergency responders. He was calmed by another trucker praying with him.

Eventually, emergency service personnel arrived on the scene and lifted the truck up so Ogieva could be extracted. Miraculously, he had no broken bones.

Reflecting on the event, Ogieva said he would stop if it happened again, but would do some things differently.

“I would stop, and use my truck as a shield to make sure that oncoming traffic is aware of the situation in front before going to help,” he said. “That day, I saw another driver in distress and I knew he needed my help. If we were not there to help him, it could have been worse.”