The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) named truck driver Terry Walde of Miami, Man., a TCA Highway Angel for stopping to help a cyclist who had been struck by a semi-truck on the road in a hit-and-run incident.
Walde drives for Searcy Trucking, out of Winnipeg, according to a TCA news release.
On May 27, around 12:45 p.m., while traveling eastbound on Highway 1 between Ernfold and Chaplin, Sask., Walde encountered debris on the highway and slowed down. Moments later, he came upon a cyclist, journeying across Canada, who had been struck by a semi-truck that fled the scene.
“I saw the bicycle, and I also saw the guy lying there beside the bicycle,” said Walde, who has been a professional truck driver for 42 years. “Another truck driver stopped and called 911 while I tended to the guy, to make sure he was still alive.”
The cyclist had sustained serious injuries including a broken leg, ribs, and collarbone. He was lying on the side of the road, struggling to breathe.
“You could see on the grass along a ditch that the truck (that fled) drove right onto the grass, then kept going back onto the road again,” Walde said. “You could see the right tire tracks of the tractor-trailer went right over him (the cyclist) on the grass.”
Directed traffic for several hours
Walde communicated the cyclist’s injuries to emergency responders, and then realized traffic wasn’t slowing down near the accident scene so he directed traffic for several hours.
Searcy Trucking later provided dash cam footage to support the investigation. RCMP Const. Ryan Oram confirmed with Searcy Trucking that the driver responsible was apprehended and charged shortly afterward.
When asked why he went to such lengths to help the injured cyclist, Walde said, “I’m old school — it’s the way I was taught. We help each other.”
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