LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — It’s a scene that’s hard to forget — a truck driver dangling from the Second Street Bridge as a team of first responders came to her rescue.
Just after noon on March 1, Louisville Metro Police and Louisville Fire were sent to the bridge on a reported crash involving a Sysco semitruck, a pickup truck and two passenger vehicles. The crash had caused the semi to break through the western barrier of the bridge and partially dangle over the Ohio River with the driver, Sydney Thomas, stuck in the cab of the truck.
Thomas’ rescue has been seen all over the world. Dramatic video shows Louisville firefighter Bryce Carden pull her back up to safety. Police have said she was in the cab of the truck dangling off the bridge for at least 45 minutes.
She was eventually able to meet the first responders who saved her life. Photos of the meeting show her all smiles and hugs, full of gratitude for those who saved her life. But the 25-year-old mother and veteran’s family said the trauma has been hard to overcome.
Sydney Thomas, the Sysco semitruck driver rescued from the 2nd Street Bridge accident on March 1, 2024, meets the Louisville firefighters who brought her back up to safety.
The day after the crash, Thomas took a step back to deal with her mental health as her mother and stepfather stepped up to help care for her 4-year-old son, Mason.
“Everybody didn’t know who she really was, but at the same time, she had a son, didn’t nobody know about that, was left behind,” said Thomas’ stepfather, Charles Carver.
The family needed a fence in their backyard to protect Mason, who has autism, from the busy expressway behind their home. It’s an issue they spoke with WDRB News about on April 1, one month after the crash. After seeing that story, Kyle Jones, with Just in Time Roofing and Construction, stepped in.
“When that story popped up, something said to me I need to get to Justin to ask if we can do this fence,” said Jones.
“Kyle came to me and said this family needs help and I said let’s get on it, let’s get to it,” said Justin Higdon.
While connecting with the family about the fence, Jones found out just how connected they really were.
“We had a good time talking and he asked where do I live, and so I told him where my address was and he was ‘Wow, I live one street over. I just walked past your house with my wife and dogs yesterday,'” said Torrie Carver, Thomas’ mother.
Just in Time is now working to install a privacy fence for the family, who initially asked for donations through GoFundMe to build it.
“We’re in a much better place now, and it’s to the community. We thank you,” said Torrie Carver.
They now plan to use that money to take care of Mason.
“I had a friend in Texas who seen it and he called us and gave us his condolences so this story went worldwide,” said Charles Carver.
The family doesn’t have a specific date of when Thomas will return, but shared their story in an effort to bring awareness and gain support for mental health issues, knowing it will help their daughter to see that the community that watched her rescue also had a hand in taking care of her son.
If you’d like to support the family, click here for the GoFundMe page.
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