Trucker dies saving man from oncoming SUV
A trucker gave his life for a colleague on 52nd Street S.E. Friday when an SUV struck and killed him as the two stood beside their trucks.
It appeared the fatally injured 44-year-old man pushed his colleague out of the way an instant before a northbound Chevrolet Blazer hit him, clipping the back of his flatbed semi, said Calgary police traffic Sgt. Darren Bliss.
“Basically he saved his friend’s life,” Bliss said.
The SUV continued north- bound for about 30 metres, where it hit a black pickup parked in a southbound lane.
There were minor injuries in the second collision.
Duty inspector Keith Cain said the Blazer didn’t stop for another 150 metres.
The driver, a woman in her early 40s, was taken to the hospital in stable, non-lifethreatening condition.
A witness, Jeff Poirier, was first on the scene.
Poirier works in a wrecking yard across the street. He said the trucker was in the right.
“He wasn’t standing in the middle of the road,” Poirier said. “He was right beside his truck. He was grabbing chains out of his box.”
Poirier said he was pretty shook up.
“I was basically the first responder.”
Poirier said he has first-responder training from working in northern oil camps and immediately ran to the man, but he had major contusions to his head and face.
He added it’s a common occurrence for trucks to park in the centre lanes waiting their turn to enter industrial yards on 52nd Street S.E.
Bliss said reports from witnesses indicate the woman may have been suffering from a medical condition.
The two semi-trailers are owned by Chohan Carriers Ltd., based in Langley, B.C. The trucking company hauls across most of Canada and the United States.
“Everyone’s just a little shaken up here,” said a man who answered the phone number listed on Chohan’s website. The man declined to give his name, saying he “didn’t want to talk about it.”
All lanes of 52nd Street between Erin Woods Drive and 23 Avenue S.E. were closed for several hours.
Earlier in the day, two other collisions also caused traffic tie-ups.
About 9:30 a.m., a 10-ton truck hit a rail overpass on Macleod Trail between 9th Avenue and 10th Avenue S.E.
There was no injuries in the collision, but the road was closed temporarily to examine any structural damage to the overpass. It reopened within two hours.
Then, at 11:30 a.m., emer- gency crews were called to eastbound Memorial Drive at the Barlow Trail off-ramp.
A car struck a utility conduit, rolled and smashed into a light pole, Brideaux said. It came to rest on its side.
After about half an hour, crews were able to extricate the driver, a woman in her late 20s.
“Despite early concerns, no one else was found in the vehicle.