This happened March 23 on Rt. 9 south in Hopelawn. The truck driver was actually headed home that afternoon, to begin hospice for his wife:
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WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A New Jersey truck driver was honored this May because he rescued a teenage girl trapped in her car in rising flood water.
The rescue happened March 23 on Rt. 9 south in Woodbridge. The man is Tom Melillo, 52, a Bayville, Ocean County resident.
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Melillo is employed as a truck driver with CPC Logistics, based in Hazlet, and he is assigned to make deliveries for Walgreens pharmacy.
He said it was about midday on March 23, and he was headed south on Rt. 9. He was actually headed home, and about to commence a few weeks off.
It had been raining hard that day, and as he drove on Rt. 9 south through Hopelawn, he saw the roadway was completely flooded. Melillo determined it was safe for his tractor trailer to proceed, but he saw a car floating in the water as he drove past.
“It was a small, four-door black car,” he recalled. “It was floating in the water. I could see very clearly it was floating; its back end was sticking up. The windows were all fogged up, but as I drove past I could see movement in the car. I said to myself, ‘There’s someone in there.’ I know it was a woman, because all I saw was long hair.”
Melillo said he drove a bit farther, and then pulled his tractor trailer over and parked it on the side of Rt. 9. He waded back through the flood water, about four feet deep, above his waist, to the car.
A teenage girl, she looked to be about 17, was in the driver’s seat. She was sitting in water, he said. He told her to get out of the car, and she did. Her door would not open, so she climbed through the driver’s side window. He helped her walk to an embankment and climb up it — but the journey was dangerous, he said.
“She kept slipping and falling into the floodwater. She would fall into it. She kept saying she was sorry and thanking me, but I told her I’m not her dad, don’t apologize. I just wanted to get her somewhere safe,” he said.
He ended up having to grab the teenage girl “around her collar” and pulled her up the embankment; that’s how difficult it was to walk in the flood water. She was cold and shivering, so he gave her his jacket to stay warm while they waited for Woodbridge Police and Hopelawn fire to arrive. It was difficult for Woodbridge Police to even crossed flooded Rt. 9, he said.
“I told her don’t drive through any more flood water! I am not doing this every day!” Melillo said laughing.
To this day, Melillo said he does not know who the teenage girl is. But he knows she got home safely.
Melillo continued his drive home to Bayville, to begin a hospice leave for his wife, Rebecca. Ten days later, his wife Rebecca Melillo died of cancer. The couple have three children, Rebecca’s from a previous marriage, but Melillo said he considers them his own.
Today, Melillo is back at work, still driving his truck to Walgreens in Middlesex and Monmouth counties.
“I’m just a truck driver,” he laughed. “Thank you for your condolences about my wife.”
On May 14, CPC Logistics presented Melillo with their President’s Award, which is given to CPC employees who do something outstanding. The ceremony was held at Strickland’s Steak House in Woodbridge.
“Tom’s actions March 23 were courageous and brave,” Walgreens logistics manager Ryan Michael said at the May 14 ceremony. “Several other trucks drove by the stranded driver without stopping, so clearly not everyone would have done what Tom did. His willingness to take a risk and help someone in danger demonstrates what type of driver and person he is.”
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