Trucker honored for aid in Quay

The Truckload Carriers Association named a Wisconsin-based truck driver a Highway Angel for helping a motorist pinned under his wrecked vehicle east of Tucumcari off Interstate 40 several weeks ago.

The Highway Angels program honors drivers who display exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage while on the job.

Charles Jasewicz, a trucker for H.O. Wolding of Amherst, Wisconsin, was driving through New Mexico in November from California to Lebanon, Tennessee, according to a story for Land Line magazine.

Jasewicz was about 10 miles east of Tucumcari when he saw a vehicle a short distance from the interstate.

“I wasn’t going to stop. I was going to pass it by, but then I saw legs,” Jasewicz told Land Line.

The car’s engine was running, and the driver was pinned underneath. He kicked his legs and screamed for help. Jasewicz said later the car must have flipped over and thrown the driver from it.

Jasewicz said he couldn’t find a jack, nor could he lift the vehicle off the trapped driver by himself. He said he could lift the car enough to ease pressure from the man.

Other truck drivers saw the wreck and Jasewicz trying to lift the car. They stopped to lift the vehicle enough so Jasewicz could wedge a spare tire under the car’s bumper to take more pressure off the driver’s neck.

Aid arrived on the scene later, extracted the victim and took him to the Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari. Jasewicz said he called the hospital, which informed him the man was expected to survive his injuries.