TDOT truck operator smashes car window to save unresponsive driver
“It was a lifetime in roughly five to six minutes,” TDOT HELP operator George White said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A routine evening shift monitoring a heavy-traffic highway in Middle Tennessee quickly became a life-saving rescue mission on September 19 a truck operator came across an unresponsive driver.
In video released on December 15, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said that HELP operator George White was on a routine shift on I-440 when he “found himself in a situation that was anything but ordinary.” White noticed vehicles on the side of the interstate that seemed to be a car wreck, but he soon discovered that the driver of a sedan was unresponsive.
But getting access inside the vehicle proved difficult, with White attempting to do so by kicking through the car’s windows. Then another person ran up with a hammer to assist.
“You’re scared. And you are just thinking, ‘hurry up and get this person out,’” White said.
They ended up getting through the back door of the car and cut the driver’s seat belt off. At that point, they were able to remove the driver and White conducted CPR.
“It was a lifetime in roughly five to six minutes,” White said.
TDOT said the driver survived the incident, and on November 18, White received an award from the department for saving the driver’s life. The details of what led to the incident have not been released.
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