11/20/2025
This video was shared to me last night after watching the video read the caption below of what all transpired.
We almost lost a driver, father, husband, friend last week.
I will be honest, this shook me so badly it has taken me several days to put my thoughts into words. On Thursday, November 6th, I received a call from an individual who said he had a truck and camper that had been left on his property, and he wanted them moved. I got a gut feeling about it and put him off, telling him we were just too busy and we might be able to do it next week. I was hoping he would just call someone else; it just didn't make sense that he was calling from Smithville, so why didn't he get someone there to do it? I did a little research, and he did come back as the owner of the address he was requesting these vehicles be removed from. So, I decided to take it one step further and ask someone I knew in law enforcement if this address came up frequently or if they had any problems there. Nope, okay, well I still did not send a truck.
The man called me back Sunday and then again Monday morning; I told him sure, we may be able to get it Tuesday. So Tuesday rolls around, and I have to make good on my word. I dispatch a rollback driver to the address with all the information and call the property owner, advising him he has to meet the driver and sign papers that he wanted the vehicles removed. Okay, no problem; he sounds relieved to get this truck and camper out of his yard. So, about 30 minutes pass, and I am watching the status of the driver going in route, arriving on scene, and finally towing and in route back to the shop. I think, okay, business as usual, I'm just being paranoid.
In about 10 minutes, my driver calls me; he says, "Hey, I have a really bad headache; I have pulled over at the dollar store on 56, and I'm just going to sit here a few minutes and drink a Mountain Dew and take some Tylenol." I tell him, "Okay, are you sure I don't need to bring another driver and come to you?" He says, "No, I will be fine, I will be fine." I reply, "Okay," and get up to go get me coffee, and then it hits meā¦. He sounded a little funny, like his words were not exactly right. That second I will be fine was slurred.
I am on the way to the kitchen to get coffee, and I holler at Annie, who is in her office, "Hey, pull up the in-cab camera and check on the driver of that truck." In about 4 seconds, Annie is screaming, āhe is out! He is passed out!" I run into her office to see the driver laid out across the steering wheel. I grab Jodie's keys and run to the truck; Annie comes along. All I can say about the next few minutes is if you were on Hwy 56, I am sorry! Annie was giving me a condition report of my driver, saying he is still out, and I can't see him breathing! All while I am on the phone with dispatch, telling them I think he is at Green Hill Dollar General, and I'm driving, doing my best to get to him.
I top the hill at Green Hill; no rollback, I have to call 911 back; they patch me through to Dekalb Co., and I tell them I don't know if he is at the Magness Road Dollar General or the one closer to town; please roll EMS and Leo. Finally, I make it to the Walgreens red light in Smithville; I see our truck; police are around it; no EMS yet. I'm not sure how, but I parked the truck, flew through the officers on scene, and climbed up to the driver's seat, where our driver looked SO bad. He was soaking wet; ghost white his veins in his neck were bulging, and his heartbeat was visible by those veins pulsing.
At that point, EMS arrived; I told them I think he has possibly been exposed to fentanyl. They immediately were treating him. As they load him into the ambulance, I had a city cop trying to get after me for my driving because people had called me in as recklessā¦. Quite frankly, I could care less this was life or death that I find this driver. Looking back there was very little concern or investigation as to why my driver was in an ambulance suffering from accidental fentanyl exposure.
If I had not paid attention or asked sis to look at the in cab camera, he would have sat there with no help for Lord knows how long, or God forbid we did not have cameras in our trucksā¦..
I have told you all this because everyone who reads this should be mad! This could have hurt so many people. This abandoned truck had sat for weeks, just feet off a city street, unlocked, where any neighborhood child could have opened it. Our driver had on gloves opened the door, put the truck in neutral, and adjusted the wheels. What would have happened if he had not pulled over and had blacked out behind the wheel? We thank God for so many things in this whole situation. It could have ended so differently.
So much thanks to Dekalb & Warren EMS, Sheriff's Departments, and the hospital staff at Dekalb Hospital. They did all the right things and especially Ramie Roberts for always being there for us. Our guy is just fine, made a complete recovery that afternoon, but we came close to losing someone so irreplaceable to so many of us; this man is a father, husband, and we count them all as family.
The amount of people who are being accidentally exposed to fentanyl is alarming right here around us. Fentanyl is not only affecting addicts who willingly use it but completely innocent victims who have no idea they're coming into contact with it until it's too late. I never dreamed when we bought cameras to put in our trucks that they would save someone's life, but I truly feel that these have, because without that camera being in that truck, where we could see he needed help, we would've thought he's just not answering the phone for a few minutes. He will call back; we didn't know he was unable to call back or answer.
Towing and Recovery is dangerous in and of itself, just the daily job, but hazards like this on the job, and not having the correct equipment, could be a death sentence. Lack of training and tools can truly cost lives, not just ours or our drivers, but the public who we share the road with. I will be turning down any calls that I think are the least bit sketchy or I get an uneasy feeling about. I hope this is a wake up call to anyone in our line of work, our driver did all the things right he had gloves on he did not physically sit in this vehicle he just reached in applying brake and putting vehicle in neutral. Moving forward, our entire staff will undergo Narcan/CPR training in the next few weeks; there will be Narcan on every truck in multiple locations and in our offices. vudel
