Robert DigraziaA truck driver for ABF Freight has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association after he stopped to help a young woman whose car had caught fire.
On Sept. 10, Robert Digrazia was on his way to pick up freight in Bradenton, Florida, when he saw a car stopped in the road with small flames coming from under the driver’s door. He pulled up next to the car and saw the driver, a young woman possibly in her late teens, was still inside.
Digrazia rolled down his passenger window to try to get the woman’s attention, fearing she was in shock and didn’t know what to do. He then set his brakes, grabbed his fire extinguisher and found the woman’s door now engulfed in flames.
She had managed to kick the door open and got out, and Digrazia directed her to stand away from the car while he worked to extinguish the flames.
He then helped the woman call her father, then 911. Digrazia was disappointed no other drivers stopped to help. Other drivers were just blowing their horns at us,” he says, and were driving between the woman’s car and his truck.
For his willingness to help, TCA presented Digrazia with a certificate, patch, lapel pin and truck decals. ABF Freight also received a certificate acknowledging their driver as a Highway Angel. EpicVue sponsors TCA’s Highway Angel program.
